Alpha Force: Brody & Son
by spinkle22
Summary: Complete! Alpha Force's plans for Easter a ruined when two of their closest friends go missing, and things are looking suspicious. Can the team sort things out before Easter is over?
1. Amber's House

**Hi everybody!!! I've never done this before! I've just enjoyed reading other people's stories but now I've decided to write one myself… reviews would be amazingly appreciated, as it's my first ever story. Thank you!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of Alpha Force.**

* * *

Hex and Alex climbed out of the taxi and collected their bags from the boot. Alex paid the driver while Hex stood on the pavement, staring in awe at the huge mansion and its gardens which lay awaiting their presence.

"Flippin' heck…" he muttered once the taxi man drove off. Alex joined him. There was a high wall surrounding the house, and they could only peer at it through the iron gates.

"So," said Alex, "how do we get in?" Hex looked to the right and spotted a speaker attached to the wall. He pointed.

"You can do the talking," he said, "I'd be ashamed if anyone within five years of our age walked past." Alex grinned and shook his head. He pressed the button and waited for a response.

"Good afternoon, Middleton household," came the reply, a little crackly. It wasn't one Alex recognised. A car drove past and Alex saw Hex with his head down, trying hard not to be noticed, in the corner of his eye.

"Oh – um, hi – we're friends of Amber. We're staying here for Easter." Alex said. Hex was now staring at him intently.

"OK, come on in." Automatically, the gates sprung open and Alex and Hex made their way cautiously inside. Hex laughed.

"If my mates from London could see me now…" he said and shook his head. Alex smiled.

"Yeah… and mine, too." Somewhere in the garden a dog barked, and they saw a huge greyhound bounding towards them. They stood uneasily as the greyhound approached.

"Er… you know anything about dogs?" asked Hex nervously.

"Nope." Said Alex, wondering why Amber hadn't told them about the dog.

"Hey!" called a familiar female voice, and the dog stopped at once. Alex relaxed. It was Amber. She appeared from around the corner of the house and called the dog back to her. Reluctantly, it gave the boys one last glance before bounding off to annoy somebody else. Amber waved, "Hey, guys!" She ran over to them and first hugged Hex, then Alex, "You OK?"

"Yeah, not bad. And you?" replied Alex, picking up his bag which he had dropped when he saw the dog. Amber headed towards the house, followed by the two boys.

"I'm OK. Paula and Li aren't here yet. You had tea?"

"Nope," said Hex, "Hey, you never told us you had a dog." Amber stopped and turned around, a wicked grin on her features.

"Didn't I? I have four." Hex's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

"_Four?_" he turned to Alex, "Is that normal?" Alex shrugged.

"Obviously so, in this household."

They followed Amber in through to a courtyard. She led them to a glass door to one side, where a man was sweeping the ground.

"This is Fred, our gardener. I'll show you the others in a bit. Fred, this is Alex and Hex. They've come from the UK." Fred looked up and nodded at them both. He was at least fifty, with weather beaten skin and kind eyes. Hex and Alex nodded in reply, before glancing at eachother nervously. Gardeners? And there were more?

* * *

After meeting Gwen, the cook, and Harry, the cleaner, Amber took them upstairs to their rooms. They were both huge, with a double bed and en suite for each. Hex wasn't used to this at all. This was like a free five star hotel… even looking out of his window he could see tennis courts and an outdoor swimming pool. She's probably got an underground private train, he thought. It was nine o'clock, and the jetlag was beginning to get to him. He'd taken a different plane to Alex, but they'd met at the airport in Boston and taken the taxi from there together. He dumped his bag on the floor, not bothering to unpack, and lay down full length on the bed. Five star mattress, too.

Alex wandered in a bit later. Hex had his hand over his face, but he wasn't asleep.

"Gosh, your rooms exactly the same as mine. Even the furniture's in the same place." He said, running a finger down the side of Hex's wardrobe.

"Mm," mumbled Hex in reply, still not moving.

"Bit different from home, isn't it?" Alex sat down in the chair by the window, and Hex sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"They're like different worlds. You don't even get hotels like this in England." He said, and looked out of the window, "You seen the tennis courts? And the swimming pool?" Alex nodded.

"Free holiday…" he muttered, "It's a lot busier than Northumberland – I guess it's kinda similar to London because there's a lot of buildings and stuff,"

"But it's like being surrounded by a million Ambers. I get kind of claustrophobic." Said Hex. Alex laughed out loud.

"Yeah, it's exactly like that!" At that moment Amber entered with a frown on her face.

"I thought you two were sleeping off the jetlag," she said, hands on hips.

"Well, I was, until Alex interrupted me…"

"Hey! Don't blame me!"

"It was your – "

"Guys!" Amber interrupted, "If your awake, then I was just going to tell you that Paulo and Li have arrived. And then tea's ready."

"OK." Amber left. Alex and Hex stood up wearily and followed her down the wide steps, where Paulo and Li were waiting at the bottom.

* * *

Li grinned when she saw Alex and Hex climbing down the steps. They looked exhausted from the flight.

"Hellooo!" she called. Alex muttered something in reply, but Hex didn't say anything. They reached the bottom and Paulo clapped Hex on the back.

"Good flight?" he asked. Hex shrugged.

"It was OK." The four newcomers followed Amber into the dining room where a long table was laid out with knives and forks. Unsure of what to do, Hex and Alex hung back, but the other three took seats and so they joined them. There was an awkward silence for a bit, until Paulo began,

"Er… not to be rude, but, where's the food?" Amber burst out laughing.

"It's coming, you moron!" The tension was broken, and the five friends started catching up on everything that had happened during the last six weeks they had not seen eachother. Five minutes later, Gwen entered holding five hot plates. She put one in front of each person, humming a tune to herself.

"Thanks, Gwen," said Amber. The others mumbled their agreement, and Gwen came in again holding a bowl of – the others didn't know what – but it smelt lovely all the same. Gwen set it down on the table with a tablespoon and stood up.

"Enjoy," she said, and walked out.

* * *

Paulo woke up to the sound of… silence. It was strange. He was used to being woken up by the cows on his ranch wanting to be milked. He stood up, wondering if anyone else was awake, and went into his en suite to get ready. He was still full from last night's dinner. He wasn't sure what it was, but it was sure filling. And it was definitely delicious. He'd have to ask Amber's cook for the recipe.

They were all here in Boston not for a mission, but to spend Easter together. He hoped nothing would come up, as they had all been hoping for a peaceful time away from the exams and stress at the age of fifteen and sixteen.

* * *

An hour later they were all sat in Amber's living room, lounging on the huge sofas and drinking lemonade with ice cubes clinking around the top. The sun was streaming in the glass doors leading to the balcony, and the clock showed half past eight. They were all early risers.

"So what do you guys want to do today?" Said Amber. No one said anything.

"I dunno, I dunno what there is here." Li finally said. She glanced at Hex, who was reaching for his palmtop, "No palmtop here, OK? Or I might have to confiscate it…"

"What?" said Hex, his eyebrows raised. Li grinned.

"No anti-social behaviour either. Got that?" Hex was about to protest, but then, on remembering Li was a martial arts experts, withdrew into his seat.

"If you want, for today we can just go to the park so you can get to know the place a bit." Said Amber, cutting in.

"Fine with me," said Alex, looking around at the others. Paulo agreed, Hex nodded and Li jumped up.

"Then let's go! She called, and bounded out of the room.

"Wait, Li, you don't know the way…" yelled Amber and ran out after her. Hex shook his head.

"So it's possible to get lost here? Why didn't I guess?" The three boys stood up and found the girls waiting by the kitchen door. They followed Amber to the front door, where they met John, Amber's uncle.

"Hey, guys!" he kissed Amber on the cheek, "I only just got back. You off somewhere?"

"Uncle? Could you give us a lift down to the park?" said Amber, her eyes twinkling. John Middleton sighed in exasperation and threw his hands up into the air.

"OK, then. In the car, you lazy lot." He led them out to a sleek black car with tinted windows and climbed in the driver's seat. Amber got into the passenger seat.

Alex glanced at Hex, Li and Paulo.

"I think I'd prefer to walk," he said, and they bundled into the back seat.


	2. Just a Day?

**Sorry it took me a while to update - Word broke down on my computer and all that bla bla bla. Thanks for the reviews I've had so far!**

* * *

They arrived at the park five minutes later. John Middleton had flown through the traffic, and Paulo was still trying to work out how he did it. Amber's uncle stopped outside the entrance, and Amber got out as if she was a movie star. She flicked her hair and leaned in to kiss John goodbye, before shutting the door and waiting for the others to get out. It was interesting to see how different they reacted to Amber, with their heads down trying not to be seen. 

"Oh, come on, guys. Who wouldn't want a lift in a car like that?" She glared at Hex as he suddenly had a particularly violent coughing fit, then waved at her uncle as he drove off. She turned to the park with a flourish, and found a spot under a tree. The others followed and sat around her, looking uncomfortable.

"Do you come here often?" asked Li, eyeing the children playing on the swings and the slide nearby. There were a few women with pushchairs, and old men walking dogs, as well as a few other groups of people their own age scattered about the grass. Amber shrugged.

"Occasionally," she replied, sitting down and opening her bag, "Uncle gave me some sandwiches for lunch, if you guys want one,"

"Gosh, how much stuff can you fit in there?" Paulo leaned forwards, inspecting the contents of Ambers bag, "Ouch!" he cried as Amber slapped his hand and glared at him. She pulled out five sandwich bags.

"Wait, I'm not eating that…" began Hex, but was interrupted with a look from Amber. He shrugged. There was no point in arguing. Amber never listened.

Amber continued handing out the sandwiches and lastly kept one for herself. Before she started, she injected herself, making sure no one else in the park saw. She didn't mind the rest of Alpha Force seeing, as they were used to it and made no reaction. She saw an eight year old kid standing nearby, staring at her in wonder. She put away her kit and gave him her best glare, before he blushed and turned away, running back to his mum.

Li leaned back in the sunshine. It had to be at least thirty degrees, and she felt the warm sun beating down on her face. Her sandwich was delicious. She didn't know what was inside it but she liked it, for sure.

"Mm, this is the life," she murmured. Paulo looked at her and laughed.

"I think I might join you," he said and leaned back next to her. Alex cast a glance at Amber and Hex and shook his head.

"Those two…" he began and turned his attention back to his sandwich.

* * *

The day passed lazily and drew near to evening. They were still wandering around the streets of Boston after they'd finished talking in the park. Amber led the way towards a café she knew, while the others followed. She loved being with them. She had plenty of friends at her school, but it wasn't the same being surrounded by girls who only knew her because she was rich, or because they pitied her when her parents were killed. Although she had grown up with most of the girls at her school, she felt much more at home with the rest of Alpha Force, who didn't judge her in any way. She laughed inside as she thought of how different they were: Alex, enjoying the cold mountains of Northumberland with his mother and father; Hex from a rough area of London, knowing how to take good care of himself; Paulo from his ranch in Argentina, surrounded by cows and Li, who travelled all around the world with her zoologist parents. They couldn't be a more different group. However, she thought, maybe it was because of their differences that they were such a close team. 

Amber found the cafe and joined the queue, before turning towards the other four.

"Do you guys wanna find a table, and I'll place an order? And Alex? Can you come back and tell me what the others want?" Alex nodded and they walked over towards a round table next to the window. Jack, the manager of the cafe, was busy serving another customer so Amber watched the others as she waited. Li ordered first, and took her time over her decision. Paulo didn't even look at the menu, he just ordered the same as Li. Hex just glanced at it and ordered the first thing he saw. Probably fast food, Amber thought.

"Amber! And how can I help you?" It was Jack. He'd finished serving the man in front and was smiling enthusiastically at Amber. She smiled back and moved up to the till.

"Hey Jack," she began," I dunno what I want yet. My friend's just getting the order now." She nodded over towards the table. Jack looked past her shoulder to see who she was talking about.

"They're new. Never seen them before."

"No, I know. They're not exactly local."

"Really? Where they from?"

"London, Northumberland, Argentina, and everywhere." Jack's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

"You're serious? You've a wide range of friends." Amber laughed, just as Alex came back with the order.

"This is Alex. He's the one from Northumberland." Alex glanced at her.

"Hi, Alex, I'm Jack. Nice to meet you." Alex smiled back. He wasn't used to being surrounded by Americans, and every time someone said something he was a little taken aback by their accent.

"Oh - hi. Um, can we have two portions of chips, two cheeseburgers and whatever Amber wants..." Alex began. Amber smirked when he mentioned the chips and cheeseburgers. That was _so_ fast food.

* * *

Hex looked up from his palmtop when Li made a particularly loud shriek. She was playing noughts and crosses with Paulo on a table napkin, using a fork to indent it instead of a pen, and Paulo had just beat her for the fifth time in a row. Paulo laughed and looked up. 

"See, Hex, this is how you survive when you don't have a pen or paper. Table napkins and forks do just fine." Hex frowned.

"Of course, and you need to play noughts and crosses to survive, don't you?" he said sarcastically. Paulo grinned again.

"You any good?" Hex shrugged and leaned forwards. Paulo handed him a fork and drew out the grid, while Li watched intently.

And Hex finished by putting a cross next to his other two. He sat back, grinning at Paulo, with his arms crossed casually against his chest. Paulo was staring at the napkin in disbelief.

"Wha - how...?" he started, and the banged his hand against the table, "Right, we're doing a rematch." Li laughed and Paulo drew out another grid, "And I'm starting this time," he said.

He proceeded to lose three matches out of three, when he gave up. He couldn't bear the look of triumph on Hex's face, but he had to admit he'd been beaten badly.

"Don't know what you're grinning at. It's not like - it's not like being great at noughts and crosses is anything to be proud of, anyway." he muttered under his breath. Hex shook his head and put his palmtop away when he saw Amber and Alex approaching with their meal.

"Mm, smells good," Li sniffed as the tray came closer. Hex peered at the five plates balanced on it.

"Trust Amber to get the most expensive meal on the menu. It probably costs as much as all of ours together." He said, as Alex and Amber sat down, Amber still fumbling to get the change in her purse.

"Actually," she said, "It was half price. Only as much as two of your meals put together." Her eyes twinkled. Hex scowled and took one of the cheeseburgers, unwrapped it and took a bite. The others all followed, and within a few minutes, every plate was clean. Except for Amber's, of which was too much for her to finish.

* * *

Paulo had his back to the window. He had finished his portion of chips, and half of Li's and was full up. They had been huge portions, and each plate was about the size of a cow's head. Not a great comparison, but he was very familiar with sizes of cow's heads. 

Amber was talking about other sights in Boston which they could visit over the next week or two, but nobody was really listening. They weren't used to life like this at all. Usually, at Easter, they would be caught up with homework or revision, but Amber had insisted they'd leave it all behind. Usually, on their missions, they might bring along a piece of coursework or something that they could work on during their free time, but now they were almost bored with nothing to do.

"... and there's the Beacon Hill, which you guys might want to try out... Hex?" Amber stopped abruptly and Paulo looked up. Hex was staring out of the window at something, a look of shock steadily growing on his face.

"Get down!" he suddenly yelled, and ducked under the table. Paulo and Li and the others didn't need telling twice. Immediately they ducked, pulling other customers down with them, not even knowing what they were ducking from.

Someone screamed.

And then Paulo realised what Hex had shouted for. As if in slow motion, the windows along the cafe smashed as one, and every person in the cafe shrieked, using anything within their reach to protect themselves.

And then there was the sound of an immense amount of shattering glass, by what could only be a lorry on fire, driven crazily into the building, ready to kill anything in its way.

* * *

**And that would be all! For now! Again, reviews would be greatly appreciated, as it's my first story. Thanks to you guys who did!**


	3. Jack Scrivvens

**Super Quick Update! Thanks again for my reviews - keep 'em coming!**

* * *

Li cowered under the table and heard the glass smash and saw, slowly, the shadow of the lorry first as it blocked out all light from the cafe, soon followed by the bulk of the lorry itself. Paulo was protecting her from the glass with his body, and she could look up and see the lorry plunge into the far wall, missing the toilets by a few inches. It passed over the counter, forcing Jack and all the other employees to duck behind it. Bottles and glasses were thrown onto the floor. Then Li noticed with a sinking heart that the cabin was on fire. She knew that if the fire spread to the engine, the whole truck would go up in flames, taking the whole building with it. They had to get everybody out. 

Finally, the lorry came to a stop further into the building. Whatever shop was on the other side of that wall had probably suffered just as much damage as this one, she thought. She listened for the screams, but they had all stopped. There was just complete silence. Was everybody dead? Then she stood up, forgetting the table above her, and banged her head against the side. She ignored it and scanned the cafe. Thankfully nobody seemed to have been hurt - or killed. Not yet, anyway. They had perhaps a minute or two before the truck exploded. The other four members of Alpha Force stood up as well. They were all fine, except for a few cuts and bruises. She pointed towards the fire in the cabin, took a deep breath, and -

"Everybody get out! Now!" She yelled. Suddenly, all around her, the panic started. Everyone was just too eager to follow what Li had ordered. A mad rush followed, some people crying and others moving robotically, still in shock. A woman held back, looking frantically round her for something.

"Come on! We've got to - " began Paulo, taking her by the arm and trying to drag her towards the exit.

"No!" she screamed, "Where's my son? He went to the toilet - where is he?" She was crying hysterically and searching the whole room for him. Alex glanced at Hex.

"How old is he? We'll get him." He said quickly, grabbing Hex's arm.

"Seven - no, eight..." she began, but Alex and Hex were already off towards the toilets.

"Be careful!" Amber called after them, before returning to help Paulo and Li get everybody out. The woman was still hesitant to go, but Li laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"It's OK," she said, "My friends will get him," Li glanced back towards the toilets to see Alex and Hex, but they were not in sight. She turned back and got everyone out the cafe. Then she said to Paulo, "Did everyone behind the counter get out?" Paulo nodded and helped Li get the customers as far away from the building as possible.

* * *

"Can you see anyone?" called Alex, climbing over the broken door frame. Hex peered into the tiny toilet. He didn't like the thought of being stuck in there when the truck blew. 

"Nope." Alex opened the first cubicle. There was no one there. Hex was looking in the second, but no hope. With a last burst of hope, Alex moved over to the third and last door, but the door was locked. Frantically, he banged on the door.

"Who's in there?!" He called, "Can you open the door?" Nobody answered. Alex swore. With a grunt, he pushed his shoulder into the door and it moved a bit. Hex saw him and ran over.

"Here, I'll help," he muttered, then banged on the door with his fist again, "Stand back, OK?" On the count of three, Hex and Alex both shoved the door and it came free off its hinges. Hex rubbed his shoulder, breathing hard, and turned back towards the door where he could watch the fire in the truck. There was no point in trying to put it out, but he could get an idea of how much time they had.

"Alex! We've got about a minute!" Called Hex, from the door, watching the fire in the cabin rapidly spread towards the engine. Alex ignored him and focussed his attention on the kid cowering nex to the toilet seat. He appeared to be in shock. He wasn't moving and was staring blankly ahead. Alex shifted uncomfortably - it was like he was staring right through him. He moved closer to the boy, who made no sign that he knew his cubicle door had just been smashed off. Alex knelt down in front of the boy.

"See if you can put the fire out!" He called back to Hex. He knew it was pointless but it would give Hex something to do. They all hated having to wait around. He heard Hex run off and offered his hand to the boy, who's eyes suddenly flickered and moved over to Alex's hand. He stared at it as though he'd never seen a hand before, "Come on! We've got to get out!" He said, kneeling down. The boy stared at him with wide eyes, and nodded slowly. Alex gently put his hand on the boys arm and stood up, and the boy followed.

"It's OK," he said, but he'd never realy been great with kids. And all the time he was becoming increasingly aware of the time they had left. The boy took hold of his hand and he ran towards the door, stopping to find Hex. He was holding a fire extinguisher and was about to pull the string when Alex knocked it out of his grasp.

"No time," he said, "We just need to get out." The three of them ran out of the cafe and down the main road. Alex breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the group futher up, huddling together with their hands over their ears. Hex quickly scanned the street. Nobody. That was good - the others had cleared the area already.

* * *

"Thats him!" screeched the woman, pointing at the figure holding on to Alex's hand. 

"Thank God," whispered Amber. She let out a breath that she hadn't realised she'd been holding when she saw the three boys. She'd been so worried the truck would blow while they were still in there. It had been like deja vu, when Hex had ran back to the burning truck to rescue Samir in Western Sahara, next to Morocco.

Before they reached them, the woman's son let go of Alex's hand and ran straight to his mother, embraced in her arms. Amber smiled. Alex and Hex slowed as they reached them, breathing heavily.

"You got him, then," she said, playfully punching Hex on the arm. He was about to reply, when, a few hundred metres away, the fire in the cabin reached the petrol stored in the engine.

Everyone threw themselves face down on the ground with their hands over their ears, as the impact hit them. Paulo had instructed everyone as what to do when the truck blew. Even from this distance, they felt the heat wave pass over them, and if they had looked up, they would have seen the building, a few blocks away, go up in flames, tongues of fire reaching the sky and disentegrating.

When Paulo was sure the blast was finished, he cautiously raised his head. He had been protecting a young girl under his body, and he quickly checked to see if she was OK. She was fine, just a little scared. He stood up, brushing himself off. All the others followed him and Alex, Li, Hex and Amber came over to talk.

"What the hell was that all about?" asked Hex, looking to check if his palmtop was still safe.

"I don't know, but it seems we're in on something..." Alex grinned at the other four faces.

"You mean we can't even enjoy easter without getting burning lorries thrown at us?" said Hex.

"Thank God we saw it in time." Li whistled, staring at the black smoke already billowing into the sky.

"Thank God _Hex_ saw it in time," replied Amber, rubbing Hex's arm. The others murmured in agreement. "Well, Jack's not gonna be happy," sighed Amber. Almost on cue, Jack tapped her on the shoulder. She turned, surprised to see the look of guilt and terror on his face, "Hey, are you OK?"

"What do you think? My job's just been blown up," he scowled.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean - " Amber began, but Jack silenced her with a finger to his lips. Behind her, Alex, Li, Paulo and Hex continued talking about the explosion.

"Listen," the urgency was clear in Jack's voice, "This was - well, I don't know how to say this, but - " he paused, "No. I'll just say - " Amber didn't have a clue what was wrong. What could be bothering him so much?

"I'm sorry, OK?" he said, and turned and ran down the road. The other four had stopped talking, and had only heard his last two words.

"Jack - wait - " Amber called, but he didn't listen. He turned the corner and disappeared from sight. Amber frowned and turned back to her friends.

"Well, I don't know what that was all about," she said, "But he was acting as if he was kind of responsible for the explosion." The other four members stared at her, aghast.

"Who is he?" said Paulo, frowning in thought.

"Jack. He runs the cafe. He's always been a really nice guy - often gave me free drinks and stuff. Only recently, come to think of it - he has been a bit secretive. Like he's got a problem which he can't talk about. Sometime's I've seen him looking so stressed, even when nothing seems to be wrong. It started about a couple months ago, I guess." Amber recalled. They were silent for a while.

"Jack who?" Alex said, suddenly. Amber looked at him.

"I dunno. I've never asked. Might know it if I heard it, though."

"Jack Scrivvens?" Amber nodded, surprised. "He was in the news, I think, a while ago. Something like he fled from Washington because he was being threatened. How long's he been living here?"

"A year, maybe." Amber was now fully alert, staring at Alex. They could be onto something.

"Yeah - that's around the time I saw the article. And then maybe his threateners tracked him down a couple months ago - "

"And that would explain his strange behaviour!" finished Amber, her face lit up. There was silence for a minute, all deep in thought, before Paulo said -

"Bang goes that relaxing Easter."

* * *

**Woop woop! Chapter Three successfully uploaded. Let me know what you think, and what you'd like to see...**


	4. Phonecall

**Yes! So far I've had two reviews for every chaper. Thanks to Elledreamer and SuperTD for all your reviews! xxx**

* * *

The windows in Amber's room - in fact her whole house - were flung wide open. It was very hot, and they'd all just eaten an ice cream from Amber's walk-in freezer. They were all in the lounge, Hex and Amber sharing a sofa, Paulo and Alex on armchairs and Li sat on the floor. The morning news was on Amber's wide screen TV, showing the latest headlines. 

"...and finally, last night a lorry on fire smashed into a cafe in Boston. Fortunately nobody was injured, as everybody managed to get outside before the lorry exploded. Over in Boston, right outside the scene, we chat to some witnesses." The screen changed to show the ruins of Jack's cafe. The building looked about ready to collapse any moment, and the area was surrounded by yellow tape to keep the public away. The reporter, a middle-aged man with greying hair and round glasses, stood outside with the woman whose son Hex and Alex had rescued from the toilets.

"It was like - these kids, they were only kids. Fifteen or sixteen years old, I'd say? They seemed to know what they were doing. They rounded everyone outside, and two of them went back to get my son, who was in the toilets at the time." She said. Then Amber noticed her son at her side, smiling goofily at the camera.

"And what was it like to see a lorry flying towards you?" asked the reporter, probing forwards with the microphone.

"Well, as you can imagine I was terrified..." Amber picked up the remote and turned the volume down. Turning to the others, she said,

"So I guess they're not revealing any information to the public, like why the heck someone would want to drive a lorry into random cafes..." She sighed and sat down. Nobody knew what to say. They hadn't heard from Jack since the incident, and Amber assumed he was living with his wife a few miles away. Hex got out his palmtop and started tapping away at the keyboards. Amber looked over his shoulder, "So now what are you looking at?"

Hex answered with a question: "Do any of you guys remember seeing the name on the lorry?" Li thought for a moment.

"Yeah, I had a quick look before I ran out. Knew it might come in useful. It was - " Li stopped to think for a moment, and Hex looked up eagerly, " - somebody and Son. Brady - Brody? Yeah, that's the one! Brody and Son." Li finished with an 'I told you so' look, but Hex just turned his attention back to the screen.

"I could probably find out some stuff..." he said, eyes transfixed on the screen.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Hex leaned forward with a satisfying smile on his face. They were still in Amber's living room, and while the others had been talking, Hex had been finding important information about the lorry crash. He turned the screen round so the others could see, and showed them the contents of the web page with a flourish. The others peered at it in anticipation. 

"I hacked into Brody and Son's email account," he explained, "and found some emails adressed to a particular Mr Scrivens - "

"What?" Amber almost shouted, grabbing the palmtop and looking closer for herself. Ignoring Hex's protests, she opened one up and read it aloud.

"Dear Mr J Scrivens. We have noticed that you have failed to tell us where it is. You know what we mean. Failure to do this by the 22nd March, we will be forced to consider taking serious action. Yours, Mr O. Brody. It's dated last year." Amber finished.

"Didn't tell him what?" said Paulo, "Brody and Son could be anything. Jack just didn't tell them his credit card number, that's all. Hex, did you find out what they did for a living?" Hex shrugged.

"Plumbing."

"You're kidding, right?" Amber looked up startled. When Hex shook his head quite seriously, she opened up the next email and read that one out too. It was similar to the first, only more urgent, and a hint of a threat. She continued to open all the ones adressed to Jack, about fifteen in all, and the most recent only five days ago. She read the eleventh one in silence, too taken aback to read it out loud. "Oh my gosh," she whispered.

"What? What does it say?" probed Li impatiently.

"They - they robbed his house because of this - whatever he won't tell them." She continued to open more emails. "Stole his car and crashed it." She shook her head, "This has to be something big."

"Look at his inbox," said Hex, "See if Jack ever replied." Amber nodded subtly and obeyed. There was nothing. Not one email.

"Either he didn't reply, or they deleted every email they got from him." She said, smiling ruefully.

"Or he communicated by phonecalls, or something. We could find that out if we could get hold of either Jack's or Brody's mobile network." Hex replied.

"But why would he delete his inbox but not his outbox?" Alex spoke up for the first time. Paulo shrugged.

"He forgot?"

"Oh, brilliant, Sherlock." Hex's voice dripped with sarcasm. Nobody knew what to say. Jack had disappeared - Amber had already tried calling his mobile but it was switched off. They were caught up in the middle of something. Suddenly Alex snapped his fingers and sat up straight, excitement in his eyes.

"Wait a minute - why didn't we think of this before?" He said. The others looked at him in bewilderment. He continued, "Hex - when you were watching the fire, was anybody actually in the cabin? I mean, lorries don't drive into buildings on their own. There must have been someone in there." Hex frowned. He hadn't got too close to the cabin, so he hadn't seen anything inside. But then he remembered catching a glimpse of empty seats. He shook his head.

"There was no one in there." He said.

"Sure?" Alex said. Hex nodded confidently.

"I see what you mean, though. They could have crashed it and done a runner. It was only glass they went through so it wouldn't have done the lorry much damage, and the fire wasn't big when they crashed it." Hex thought.

"A runner where?" Paulo voiced all of their thoughts. No one had an answer to that.

"Or maybe - maybe he quickly got out and pretended he was one of the customers. I guess that's our only option. The rest of the building was completely smashed, so he couldn't have gone anywhere. And we would have seen him if he'd ran out." Li spoke up, and the others nodded. Paulo frowned.

"There were fourteen customers, two waitresses and Jack. That makes seventeen people."

"And it could have been any one of them." muttered Hex, "So what now?"

"Well, I dunno about you guys, but we've only just arrived. So why don't we have a bit of fun, work off the stress, and get back to it? It's better than nothing." Li jumped up. her mind already set on the idea. Paulo grinned and stood up too.

"I'm with you on that one," he said.

* * *

Amber's swimming pool was in the corner of the grounds, surrounded by paved flooring, deckchairs and tables. It was olympic-sized but with a different shape, with more curves, and there was a jacuzzi at the far end. There were three huts next to it, for changing, and two diving boards at different levels at the deep end. The shallow end was only two feet deep, sloping down gently along the length of the pool. Opposite the huts was a shed, which included inflatables and a fold-up water slide. It wasn't too bad, Li thought. 

With a shout like a war cry, Paulo ran forwards and leapt in from the hut he used to change in, creating a splash which Li was sure soaked half Amber's grounds. Li shrieked and dived underwater to avoid getting splashed. Not that it made her any drier in the long run. As soon as Paulo's splash calmed down, Alex and Hex weren't far behind. They were lucky it was a deep pool, or they would have hurt themselves on the bottom. Li started splashing Paulo, who grinned and splashed back. Alex and Hex started a game of tag in the water, and Amber was still in her hut getting changed.

"Probably applying her waterproof make-up." said Hex. Alex grinned and swam away from Hex, who quickly dived and followed. He caught up quickly, grabbed Alex's leg and and yelled, "Gotcha!", before quickly turning and swimming away from Alex. Alex quickly gave chase, wanting revenge.

Amber finished tying her hair back and opened the door. The sunlight spilled in, warming her smooth bronze skin almost instantly. She stepped outside, shutting the door behind her, and watched with pleasure as her friends mucked about in the pool. That was when Hex caught sight of her.

He stopped, halfway down the pool with Alex about five metres behind him and gazed at Amber's perfect curves and skin tone, before remembering himself and seeing Alex charging towards him. Quickly turning red and hoping nobody saw, he dived and pushed off again. He was too slow, however. Alex took advantage of his falter and leapt on his back, pushing him underwater and yelling "It!" in triumph. Hex twisted and pushed Alex off him and gave chase again, unaware that Paulo had seen his every move.

Amber moved slowly towards the higher diving board and perched on the edge. Hex stopped to watch again. He couldn't help it. She looked so different in a swimsuit in perfect weather. Not caring that Alex was moving further and further away from him, he watched as Amber's back arched in a perfect dive, and she hit the water with hardly a splash. He shook his head, scanned the pool quickly for Alex and saw him heading for the shallow end. He'd need a lot of power to catch up with him quickly. With a burst of energy, he pushed off, trying to take his mind off Amber.

"Ooh, Amber! Little miss perfect!" Called Li, teasing her as Amber surfaced. Amber grinned and splashed Li, joining in the water fight.

* * *

Hex sat down under one of the huge umbrellas next to Amber's swimming pool. It was hot - much hotter than England ever was. He was still wearing his swimming trunks but didn't bother to get his towel - he decided he liked the water on his skin. It helped to cool him down. The others were still in the pool but soon even the water had gotten too hot, with the glare of the sun constantly reflecting off the water. 

Panting, he reached for his water on the table and took a sip. The ice cubes had already melted. Very soon, he found his eyes drifting off towards Amber again. They were so different, him and her. This was what Amber's life was like every single day. Nearly. And London at the moment seemed worlds away. He thought of the dominant rain, and the thugs hanging round the streets, ready to knife anyone who came near. He thought of his dad's tiny flat where he stayed each weekend, and his mum's house that she shared with her boyfriend. Parents that wouldn't even look at each other. How could he and Amber ever have a chance?

He was suddenly aware of Alex approaching him, wiping his face with a towel. He took a seat nex to Hex and had a bit of his water, too.

"What do you think about the whole Jack situation?" He asked, leaning back on his deck chair so the sun could dry him better. Hex shrugged.

"I'm guessing these guys wanted to know something that Jack knew, and he wouldn't tell them, so they crashed a burning lorry into his cafe. Seems likely." Alex sighed and nodded.

"We need to find Jack first, really, don't we?"

They were interrupted by Amber's housekeeper running urgently towards them with a portable phone in her hand. She arrived at their table, panting hard to get oxygen in her lungs after the long run from the house to the pool.

"Amber!" She cried, "Amber, phone call! It's urgent, they said!"

* * *

Amber quickly heaved herself out of the pool, getting to her housekeeper's side. 

"Hey, calm down, OK? Who is it?"

The housekeeper gasped, "I don't know. A man. He didn't sound too happy - " Amber snatched the phone, turned away and held it to her ear. Li and Paulo continued flirting in the pool, while Hex and Alex watched Amber intently.

"Who is this?" A pause. "Jack! Where are you?" Amber's brow furrowed. Then her eyes widened, and she waited for a while, before hanging up. She gave the phone back to her housekeeper who turned and walked slowly back to the house, still trying to get her breath back.

"Oh my gosh," she said to Alex and Hex.

"What is it?" ventured Hex, taking another sip of water.

"It was Jack. He didn't say much. All I heard was that he's being held by someone called Brody - being held in a council house somewhere - and it sounds like he's in trouble."

* * *

**Oh the dreaded cliffhangers! Please tell me what you think! ****xxx**


	5. 31 Kindle Road

**Ah, yes! More reviews! Thank you! I'm really sorry it took me so long to update, it's just so much has been going on at school and everything and also my computer stubbornly refused to turn on... ah well, it's turning on now.**

* * *

The chair was very uncomfortable. Although it would be, Jack thought, considering he was tied to it very tightly with a blindfold. He had no idea where he was, except that he was in a council house somewhere. As for where, he didn't have a clue. He could be anywhere in Boston, or anywhere in the USA for that matter. They'd drugged him before they came so he didn't know how long they'd travelled for. The rope was cutting into his wrists which were tied together behind the chair, and even his ankles were bound. He didn't think he'd be going anywhere in a hurry. Some men, two he thought, were standing near him, one pressing a gun to his temple and the other in front of him, asking him questions.

They'd let him pay Amber a quick call. A last connection with the outside world, they said. Why had he called Amber, of all people? He didn't know. She just seemed like she knew what she was doing, the type of person who wouldn't ignore someone if they were in trouble. And after her show at the cafe with her friends, he could hardly say she was irresponsible.

The man in front of him was saying something. He was called Brody, Jack knew. He knew, all right. He'd recieved countless emails from that man for months, had his house robbed and his car crashed because of this man. And now he'd destroyed his shop and got Jack himself. Why? Because two years ago he'd won the lottery - over a million US dollars. And when his boiler had broken down he'd called on Brody and Son for help. Somehow they knew he was a millionaire, they probably read the news or something.

So they demanded higher payment. Crazy, of course. Jack had refused, but they hadn't let it go. They'd kept persisting and tried to force him to give them more, and had probably caused more money's worth of damage than they wanted in the first place. But Jack wasn't the giving in type.

"Hey, man, are you listening? I'm talking to you!" The man standing behind him pressed harder with the gun at Jack's temple. Jack winced.

"What? Sorry, I wasn't listening." Jack said simply. Best to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Then there was a female voice that Jack recognised. He hadn't realised there was another person in the room. Where he knew the voice, he couldn't tell. He couldn't place it, but he knew it was familiar.

"Sir, please - you don't have to..." She was silenced by a curse from Brody. Jack wondered who she was.

"I said, now we have you, we're not intending to set you free until you kindly let us know where the money is?" The man's voice was almost polite and Jack felt sick. He spat as hard as he could and prayed it reached Brody. Who swore under his breath and sighed. "Well, if that's your attitude..." he said. Jack didn't like the sound of that. He heard soft footsteps as the man approached him and felt a cold pinpoint of metal press against his arm. A moment later he jerked and yelled out as an electric shock coursed through his body. "Tell me where it is!"

Jack shook his head, breathing hard. "Never," he said, pictures coming into his head once more of endless wealth and comfort. He couldn't let that go. He heard Brody pull up a chair near him and sit down.

"I can wait," he said, and gave Jack another electric shock. Let him wait, Jack thought. As long as Jack knew how much he wanted that money, he could put up with whatever Brody did to him.

* * *

Amber sighed, still restlessly pacing the room. The other members of Alpha Force were scattered around on the sofas, but Amber was unsettled, disturbed. Almost as if the weather knew how she felt, the sun had disappeared behind a solid wall of grey clouds and the brightness seemed to have been sucked out from the day. The ticking of the clock on the mantelpiece was really beginning to irritate her and she had the sudden urge to smash it on the floor. Who knew what they could be doing to Jack right now? 

"Amber, that's really not going to help, you know." Alex seemed to read her thoughts. She glared at him and put her hands on her hips.

"Have you got any more ideas, smartass?" She said, and continued pacing the length of her living room. Alex shrugged and threw a hopeless look to Hex, on his right.

"For heaven's sake, we haven't even got a lead. Nothing. We - are - useless." She said the last three words slowly, almost as if Alex, Li, Paulo and Hex were too stupid to understand.

"Hey, wait a minute, what else did he say? On the phone?" Hex suddenly sat up. Amber stopped, a glimmer of hope beginning to appear in her eyes.

"I can't quote it word for word. Although he didn't say much, he was being watched by whoever got him. He just said he was held in a small council house somewhere, and it was cold." After a pause, Amber sighed again. "That isn't really much help, though. Wish he'd given us - "

"Wait!" She was interrupted by Hex. "We might be able to trace the call. Why the hell didn't anyone think of that?" he said suddenly. Before anyone could say anything else, he had whipped out his palmtop and lost to the world around him.

Amber finally sat down. This time it was not in defeat, but because she could see no more point in pacing the room as if the very walls of her house would throw answers at her. She even smiled at Li, who turned around to see what was behind her.

"Didn't I say we weren't useless?" She said. Alex grinned.

"Can't imagine you ever saying that, Amber." he replied, "But don't get your hopes up. Or you'll be pretty depressed if it doesn't work." Amber shrugged and turned on the TV.

* * *

Ten minutes later, a slow grin spread over Hex's features. 

"What've you got?" Amber yelped and snatched the palmtop out of Hex's hands before he could protest. "What is this stuff? I don't understand." She muttered.

"It says which house he's in, Amber." Hex smiled as he would to a young child. Amber scowled but didn't hold it for long; soon she was smiling enthusiastically again.

"31 Kindle Road. Know where that is?" Paulo peered over Hex's shoulder, looking at the screen. He looked up at Amber enquiringly.

"No, but I've heard of it. I could ask Uncle," she said, dashing out of the room. Li stared after her and shook her head. There was silence for a while. The clock continued to tick, but it was no longer intimidating. It almost seemed as if the room had brightened again. A couple minutes later Amber re-entered, almost hopping on the spot. Hex grimaced. She was turning into Li.

"I remember now. Uncle says its a few miles from here - I'm not exactly sure where but we could always just catch a taxi and tell them to take us there." Paulo nodded.

"It sounds like a good plan to me," he said, looking around at the others, who nodded obligingly.

"Brilliant!" cried Li, clapping her hands together, "When can we leave?"

* * *

Amber woke the others up at seven o'clock precisely the next morning, using the whole-house alarm which could be heard from the bottom of the back garden. After a considerable amount of grumbling, however, they were all up and ready by quarter to eight. 

"The taxi's coming at eight," Amber informed the others, picking up her bag in the front hall and checking its contents.

"Why so early?" Hex called from the doorway, still stretching and rubbing his eyes. Amber shot him a look.

"Do you want to find Jack or not? You never know. They could be torturing him right now, or maybe we're already too late - "

"Amber," Paulo warned, cutting her off, after Li gave a violent shudder. Amber muttered something under her breath and hoisted her bag over her shoulder. She checked her inculin kit was in her belt and looked up at the others.

"All set?"

"We were set about ten minutes ago. We were just waiting for you," said Alex, grinning hastily when Amber glared at him. They made their way out to the front and out the big gates that Alex and Hex had first seen on coming to Amber's house. It was ten minutes to, so they sat down on the grass lining the pavement and watched the deserted road.

"I have a question," Paulo broke the silence. Amber mumbled something about going ahead, and Paulo continued, "What are we going to do when we get there?" Li stopped fiddling with the grass and Amber looked up, startled.

"Er... well - we haven't really thought about that - "

"Why don't we hire a couple guns, jump in holding them at gunpoint, and take Jack? It might..." her voice trailed away when she saw the strange looks the others were giving her.

"We'll have to see the house first, then come up with a plan." suggested Alex. Paulo grinned.

"Sounds like a plan to me."

* * *

Jack cursed the men silently under his breath. He could still fell the electricity as it pounded through his body, and he wasn't likely to forget it in a hurry. They'd given up on the electric shocks half an hour ago, when they realised he wasn't going to co-operate, and he'd been sat in uncomfortable silence ever since. The man behind him had dropped his post of holding a gun to his temple, and he could now hear a faint tapping form behind him. Someone was at a computer. The man who'd spoken before was now silent, although Jack knew he was still in the room. He could feel him sat a few feet away from him, staring at him. 

Suddenly the man on the computer behind him swore violently.

"What?" came the voice from across the room, the same voice of the man who'd tortured him - Brody. He heard him stand up and move behind him to see thec omputer. If Jack wasn't tied up the door wasn't locked, he would have taken this chance to run for it, but this was seemingly impossible.

"Someone's traced the call that _he_ made," said the man at the computer. The word _he_ was slightly clearer than the rest of the sentence, so Jack knew that he'd turned around to emphasize that point.

Brody swore. "How accurate can they make it?"

"Right down to this very house," replied the man at the computer, and Brody swore again.

"We need to move." He spat on the floor. Nobody moved. "Dammit, you!" Jack knew he was talking to him, and this was confirmed as the chair shuddered from the impact of the kick Brody gave it. "We need to move, now!" he yelled, and Jack felt his ropes being untied.

* * *

The taxi pulled up into a street of run-down houses, most of which were uninhabitable. The sign at the edge of the road, which was cracked and yellowing, read 'KI L OAD'.

"Which number did you say?" said the taxi driver in a gruff voice, looking over at Amber.

"Thirty-one," replied Amber. The driver took them further down the road, craning his neck to read the numbers on the houses. He chuckled maliciously.

"You got friends livin' down 'ere, or what?" He said.

"Yes," said Amber curtly, "do you have a problem with that?" The taxi driver looked at her and seemed to shrink a bit. He paused and shook his head. Finally they stopped outside one of the smaller houses. It wasn't as rundown as some of the others, and the sign '31' was clearly visible on the door, which might have once been painted green. They all climbed out of the taxi and Amber stopped to pay the driver. He quickly turned and drove off, giving Alpha Force the impression that he didn't want to stay here for too long.

Li crept up to the front door and tried the handle, expecting it to be locked. To her ultimate surprise, however, it swung open easily and revealed a damp hallway with a broken staircase. She beckoned to the others and moved inside. Once they were all in, Hex shut the door behind them and peered into the dark interior.

A quick search of the house told them that, despite the tracing of the call, the house was quite clearly deserted.

* * *

**Five chapters! Yay! Please tell me what you think :D**


	6. Ideas

**Well, the sixth chapter! Enjoy.**

* * *

"Did we get the wrong house?" whispered Li cautiously in the silence, seeing the downcast look on Amber's face. Hex shook his head. 

"This is definately where he called from. I checked twice." He said. Nobody knew what to say, until Paulo sat down on the bottom step to think. Li shuffled uncomfortably by the door, and Alex moved back into the front room to have a look around. There was a computer at the far end and a random wooden chair in the middle. He suddenly held his breath when he saw something underneath it - ropes. He called the others and ran forwards excitedly, picking up the ropes which had been cut through. Hex went to the computer at the back

"It's still warm," he called, "so it was only used recently." As he powered it up, Amber spotted something near the door, hardly visible amongst the dirt and dust on the floor. She bent down to pick it up, and, with a jolt of recognition, saw the badge Jack always wore at his cafe. It said 'Manager'.

"Guys, look at this," she said, holding the badge into the dim light filtered into the room by the grimy window. Alex took it from Amber and turned it around in his hands.

"The pin's broken," he said, "so it obviously fell off." Amber gave him an 'I-know-that-don't-be-stupid' look and then grinned.

"So he was definately here. Can anyone tell how long ago they left? And - why?" She peered into the blank faces of Alex, Li and Paulo and then turned to Hex, still sat at the computer.

"I think I know why." Something in his tone of voice made everyone turn around and look at him. He indicated the computer with a wave of his hand. "They found out we tracked his call and must have fled."

Amber sighed. After all that, and he wasn't even here.

"Hey, man, at least we know he was here." Ventured Alex, and Amber nodded slowly.

"They probably left within half an hour ago. The computer had only just been turned off recently." Said Hex, in the vain hope of trying to rise Amber's spirits. She didn't say anything, but walked out the door. Just as the others began to follow, she stopped suddenly, and Li walked straight into her.

"What the - " began Li, but stopped when she saw Amber stoop down and pick something up. Peering over her shoulder, Li saw it was a scrap of material, perhaps from a t-shirt, with writing on it. Amber studied it for a second.

"It's Jack's writing. Definately." She turned it around for the others to see. In black marker, one word was written: 'London'.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later found them back in a taxi, buzzing with excitement. The taxi driver was more friendly than the previous one, and began humming absent mindedly to himself. Paulo was leaning out of the window, trying to catch a glimpse of the people inside the cars. 

"Paulo, they left half an hour ago. You're not going to see them." Alex muttered, after Paulo craned his neck to catch a better view of the people in a passing bus. Paulo sighed and shrugged.

Amber was sitting opposite Hex, finally pulling out of her sullen mood. Hex was sat with his knees drawn up to his chest and Li was fidgeting in her seat.

"So, this is what I think," Amber said in a matter-of-fact voice, "Do you remember Jack was wearing a red shirt the day he disappeared? Same colour as the note we found. So when he found out where they were going, he somehow got hold of a marker pen and scribbled it down on his shirt, ripped it off and dropped it, hoping that we, or someone else, would find it. Clever, huh?" She smiled at the blank faces around her.

"Amber, we all figured that out ten minutes ago." Paulo said. Amber shrugged happily and resumed staring out of the window.

"Why London?" asked Alex, after a few minutes. Automatically, everyone turned to look at Hex.

"What are you looking at me for? I don't know why they're going to London." he said. Amber sighed.

"I haven't got a clue. Maybe - maybe they just wanted to get away from here, 'cos they knew they were being followed? And London was the first place they thought of?" Amber suggested, but Paulo shook his head.

"That still doesn't explain why London. I mean, why not Greece? Or Norway?" Amber slumped back in her seat.

"Hey, don't give up, Amber. Just because we don't know _why_ they're in London, we still know that they _are_ in London. Well, on their way to London, at any rate." Li said, frowning slightly at Amber's reaction.

"I know, I'm sorry. I'm just a bit restless." Amber sighed and turned back to the window.

* * *

When the car stopped, Jack's blindfold was finally removed and he blinked in the bright sunlight. The journey had been about half an hour and he'd spent it lain across the back seats of a car, handcuffed and blinded. He was dragged roughly to his feet and finally came face to face with the man called Brody again. He had changed a lot since he had changed Jack's boiler. He'd cut of his beard and got a few extra peircings. 

He watched as the passenger door opened, and suddenly he knew where he'd recognised the voice he'd heard earlier from. It was that woman in his cafe just before it blew up. So this was the one who must have been behind part of it - somehow? She looked scared, however.

Jack looked around. They were in an airport, and the fact that they were going to London was confirmed. The sign said that a flight to Heathrow was leaving in three hours. Before he could do anything else, however, Brody fell into step behind him and subtly pressed a gun to the small of his back, so no one could see it. He pressed, forcing Jack to move, and the woman from the cafe followed behind.

"Why are we going to London?" Jack asked suddenly, turning to face Brody. A flash of anger crossed Brody's face, but then he remembered he was in the middle of an airport and had to act naturally.

"Because it's a family vacation!" Brody said loudly, causing a few passing people to turn their heads. He grinned happily at them and turned back to Jack, muttering, "We need to get as far away as possible, dork. And there was a particular person in London we were thinking of taking hostage to get you to tell us where your money is."

Brody looked Jack in the eye, who flinched and turned away.

* * *

Amber pressed the button by the gates of her house. Immediately they were greeted by the voice of, Hex and Alex now knew, Amber's maid, Gwen. 

"Good afternoon, Middleton household!"

"Hey, it's me! Amber!" Amber replied, and they waited impatiently as the wide gates opened. Once inside, they shut again, and Amber led them across the lawn towards the house.

"Gosh, it's a beautiful day, why don't we sit outside?" She suggested, and almost skipped towards the patio.

"It's not beautiful, it's like an oven," Alex muttered to Hex, who nodded in grim agreement. Amber found a shady spot under a tree with two benches and two deck chairs. She settled down on one of the deck chairs and motioned for the others to sit down.

"I'm starving. Are you guys ready for lunch?" She said, already standing up and heading back towards the house, "You guys stay here. I'll get Gwen to bring us something." She disappeared into the house.

A couple minutes later, Amber returned and resumed her earlier seat in the deck chair.

"Right," she said, rubbing her hands together, "so now we know they're going to London. I reckon, from here, they'll be there by about - how long was yuor flight, Hex?"

"Er - eight hours?" Hex guessed. Amber nodded.

"So they'll be in London by about - " She looked at her watch - "eight o'clock tonight. But that's over here, so what's the time difference?"

"Does it matter?" said Li.

"No," said Amber, "I'm just interested."

"Time difference is five hours ahead of here." Hex cut in.

"OK, that means that when they get there, it'll be one o'clock in the morning." Amber stated, and sat back in her chair. A bee flew around her head and she waved it away irritably, before continuing. "Shall we follow them?"

"Whoa - slow down. Amber, you're not coming to London. If people saw me with you they'd think I've gone soft," Hex interrupted, suddenly sitting up in his seat. Amber glared at him with her most withering look, but Hex was so used to this now that he didn't even flinch.

"I don't see why not," ventured Paulo, grinning at Hex's face. Alex and Li agreed.

"Hey, Hex, lighten up. I'm letting you stay at my house, so it's only fair Can you book us a flight? Otherwise my uncle could take me in his private - "

"No, wait, I'll book a flight." Hex said hastily and brought out his palmtop. Returning to his home city with this bunch was bad enough, but returning with this bunch in a private jet was just out of the question. "We're not staying at my house, OK? It's way too small. We can find a bed and breakfast." Amber grinned sadistically and they went to have a quick dip in the pool.

* * *

"I got us a flight at seven, tomorrow night." said Hex, closing his palmtop and turning to face the others. 

"That's good," said Alex, glancing at his watch..

"Come to think of it, I really should tell Uncle - " Amber dashed out of the room to find John. She found him in his study on the phone, talking urgently to someone. She didn't worry - he was always having long conversations like this. She waited patiently until she heard him hang up, then knocked and entered his study. It was huge and had a good view of the grounds from the window stretched across the full length of one wall.

"Hey, Amber. You guys up to something?" John grinned, putting the reciever back.

"Yeah. You don't mind if I go to London for a bit, do you?" She tried her most winning smile, but John's face fell.

"_London?_ You're not serious? Why?" Amber avoided the question.

"Hex has already booked us a flight. Can we borrow some of your money for the flight?"

"Of course you can, you know you can. When? And why?" John repeated, searching Amber's face for any giveaways. Amber didn't flinch. She quickly searched for an excuse, anything that would stop him asking questions -

"We'll be leaving tomorrow evening. We'll take a taxi to the airport." Now Amber was just buying time to think of an excuse.

"Amber, stop avoiding the question. Why are you going to London? It's not another mission, is it? You're always trying to do things without telling me. Are you afraid that I'm going to try and stop - "

"Uncle!" Amber interrupted, "It's nothing! We're going to Hex's for a bit! It's not like anything major!" John's eyes narrowed. He didn't seem convinced.

"Why are you going to Hex's, when you agreed that you'd be spending the easter holidays here?" Amber sighed. She'd forgotten it was Easter, with all the action going on. "Wait - is it something to do with the incident at Jack's cafe?" John probed. Amber finally gave in, but to her immense relief, John was OK with them going to London. She didn't tell him all the details, but at least she'd managed to get his approval.

* * *

"What are we going to do when we get there?" asked Li, fidgeting around in her seat. It was five o'clock, the next day, and they were waiting in the airport. Amber grinned maliciously. 

"Maybe we should give Hex's family a visit, I'm sure they'd appreciate knowing what Hex gets up to in his holidays - " She laughed at Hex's form shrinking down in his seat, a scowl on his face. It was quite obvious he didn't want to go back to his home city for Easter.

"Wait, don't you think we should just check that they are going to London? We could ask one of those guys if someone called Brody caught a flight there. Say he's a relative or something." Alex suggested, looking around at the others.

"Good idea," said Paulo, "I'll come with you."

They made their way through the crowd towards a lone man sitting at a desk, tapping his fingers impatiently on the surface. He looked up when Alex and Paulo approached, looking visibly bored. Alex cleared his throat nervously.

"Er - hey, I was wondering if you could help us."

"That's what I'm here for, buddy." Replied the man in a strong American drawl.

"My uncle, could you tell me if he booked a flight to Heathrow Airport a couple hours ago? I just need to make sure that - er - "

"That we got the right place," finished Paulo, receiving a grateful glance from Alex. The man grunted and looked at his computer.

"And his name was?"

"Brody."

The man was busy at his computer for a few minutes, then he looked up at Alex and Paulo.

"Yup. Dude called Brody left for Heathrow few hours ago with his wife and brother. That OK?" Alex nodded, unsure, then turned with Paulo and headed back to where the others were sitting, waiting for their new. Hex was standing a few metres away, talking on his mobile phone. He looked worried. Alex hastily turned back to Li and Amber and told them what they'd found out.

"Er - yeah, he went, with, apparantly, his wife and brother." Amber frowned.

"Oh, well he probably said Jack was his brother, and then he probably had some woman assistant or something who he said was his wife." Alex nodded and sat down.

"Who's Hex talking to?" said Paulo, glancing over to where the hacker was stood still, listening intently to whoever was on the other end of the line.

"His mum, I think. Dunno why. She called a minute ago." Amber replied and sat back in her seat, hands folded behind her head. After a minute or two, Hex pocketed his phone and walked back to where the others were seated.

"What was that about?" asked Amber, seeing the expression on Hex's face.

"Er - it's kind of good we're going back, now. Remember when I told you about my little brother on the _Phoenix_?" Amber nearly laughed out loud, but she stopped abruptly when Hex continued, "He's gone missing."

* * *

**Ooh - by the way, sorry I don't know much about airports and stuff because I've never been on a plane myslef before, so I guessed most of the details. Please review! Thank you!**


	7. The Hostage

**Welcome to Chapter 7... The Excitement Begins...**

* * *

Jack had an immense headache. He wasn't entirely sure how Brody gave him such pain, but he could vaguely remember being hit with something hard in the place they were staying in at London. It had been dark when they had arrived yesterday, still being Spring, and they had immediately caught a taxi to some sort of hotel. These guys were working independantly, for sure, as they hadn't said anything about a boss or person of a higher rank. When they'd arrived, Jack had started asking questions - too many, in Brody's opinion - that had resulted in Jack's head being hit with a blunt object. All he wanted to know was about the hostage - were they going to hurt whoever it was, who was it, did Jack know them, etcetera.

In a way he was hoping he did know them. If he didn't, it would be a lot harder to know that an innocent person was being tortured on his behalf. Money-thirsty as he was, Jack wasn't hard hearted enough to stand back and watch someone suffer.

At the moment, he was blindfolded and tied to another chair. It's kind of like deja vu, he thought to himself. They were in a one-star hotel if that, and it wasn't much better than the council house they had started off in. Which, of course, Jack thought, meant there would be no security cameras or security of any kind at all. While they were in their room, Brody could do what he liked to Jack and nobody would care. While they were outside, Jack had to act as Brody's brother, while having a gun pressed to his back.

He heard a door swing open and was aware of two people walking into the room. One was the heavy footfall of Brody, of which he had grown so used to the last few days, and one was a lighter, more timid walk that Jack didn't recognise. They were followed by the shuffling sound of the woman from the cafe.

"Take off his blindfold," Brody ordered, and the woman shuffled behind Jack and began untying the knot. Once it was off, Jack blinked in the blue light from the fly attractor and took in his surroundings. The hotel room didn't _look_ much better than the council house, either. The paint was peeling and against a wall there were four beds that looked like they might collapse at any moment. Brody stood before him, and to Jack's complete surprise, in front of a kid who looked no older than thirteen or fourteen. Jack stared at the kid, his bound hands and the look of utter terror on his face.

"Remember me telling you about a hostage?" grinned Brody, taking a seat on a dingy sofa opposite him. The kid sort of stood there looking very self-concious and wondering what to do.

"What the - ? I haven't got a clue who this is." Jack stammered, trying to see a glimmer of recognition in the boy's face, but saw nothing.

"No," sighed Brody, sitting back and putting his hands behind his head, "It was a shame, really. I called my assistant - Ian, you remember him? He's the guy who found out we were being followed. Well, I asked him to do a bit of family research for me. And, as it turned out, you have no family. So then, with a little help from Karen - " He indicated the woman from the cafe - "we discovered that you had a friend there, probably your closest. You know, that black girl. Well, we thought it would be harder for you if we got someone connected with her, so you wouldn't know them - " Jack was reminded of his earlier thoughts - "But, according to Ian, she has no family either, except for some Uncle who we decided was too hard to get. So Karen remembered the four friends that black girl was with the day we blew up the cafe."

Brody stopped to take a sip of water. He looked at the boy standing by the doorway and smiled sadistically, before continuing.

"But, according to Karen, these kids were pretty smart. Two of them ran back to rescue her "child", who was actually some kid we picked off the street and offered a bit of money, and they both knew exactly what they were doing. We don't want any risks. So we decided to get hold of someone close to one of her friends. And Karen remembered the English accent of one of her friends, and with some _expertise_ - Ian tracked him down and discovered that person had a younger brother." Brody unnecessarily indicated the boy by the door. "So we came to London. Miles out. No-one will know we're here until they discover your dead body."

Jack had to stem the grin that threatened to tweak the corners of his mouth, remembering the note he'd left at the council house. He just prayed Amber found it. "But - I mean, how are you going to threaten me with this kid? I mean, even though he knows someone who knows someone who knows me, or something like that - how are you going to threaten me with him?" A spasm of fright crossed the boy's face. Jack knew he wouldn't let anyone suffer, no matter who they were, but he was just curious.

"Just think," said Brody, "Your friend - what's she called, by the way?"

"Amber."

"Think how upset Amber would be with you if you hurt one of her friends." Brody said simply. He could make it no clearer, "This, by the way, is Ben. His big brother is commonly know as Hex."

* * *

They sat through most of the flight in an uncomfortable silence. Li was between Amber and Paulo while Alex and Hex were behind them. The sky was sunny and bright above the clouds, yet they all knew it was thundery down below. It related to their situation, Paulo thought: that this was like a quick break before they had to come down back to reality again. Amber's friend's cafe was blown up, then Amber's friend had been kidnapped and taken to London, then Hex's brother going missing... 

Paulo glanced behind at Hex, who was sitting by the window staring out at the clouds. He was obviously deep in thought. Alex had his eyes closed. Amber and Li were talking in low voices - probably something girly, he thought. He was immesnly bored. Near the back of the plane, a small child was screaming its head off while a mother was making repeated ineffective attempts to quieten it down, and it was giving him a headache. He thought about talking to Amber and Li, but hastily changed his mind when he caught a snatch of their conversation. Instead, he turned around to speak to Hex.

"Hex?" Hex jumped, as if awoken from a trance, and looked expectantly at Paulo, "Are you OK?" Hex nodded, but still didn't say anything. Paulo took a deep breath, "Look, your brother will be fine. How old is he, by the way?"

"Thirteen. Fourteen in July." Hex replied, still not looking at Paulo.Paulo could see that Hex was making it clear he didn't want to be disturbed right now, so he turned back to the girls, who had thankfully moved onto a different topic of conversation.

* * *

At the airport, they caught a taxi to their hotel. It went past like a blur for Hex. He saw famous landmarks that he knew like home flash by the window, but it still felt like he was in an alien country. He didn't know how long the journey lasted. He was thinking about his brother, Ben, who was missing somewhere - God knew where - probably wondering when Hex would come and get him. They had always been close, and Hex had always been Ben's rock. He wasn't usually the type of guy who would admit anything like this, especially to Alpha Force, but he knew it would be hard on Ben when Hex wasn't there. 

Or what if Ben had wandered off on purpose? What if he was feeling suicidal? Hex hurriedly pushed the thought out of his head. He couldn't bear to think that Ben was going through anything like that. He had nothing to feel suicidal about, anyway. Except the divorce and a few bullies the year above Ben, but Ben had never been too hurt by that. If he had, then he was a very good actor.

The others were talking about something which seemed insignificant, but he was finding it so hard to tune in that he couldn't tell what it was. He remembered Jack with a jolt, and wondered if their disappearances could be related. Maybe these people wanted something from Ben...? No, that idea's ridiculous, he told himself. What would a couple of American plumbers want anything to do with his little brother?

The taxi stopped outside a building with a glass foyier and he was aware of the others getting out of the cab. He quickly passed some money into the taxi driver's hand, muttering something about keeping the change, and followed the others towards the reception. Alex signed them in and got the keys for their rooms and led them up the stairs to where they were staying.

* * *

"What if," Li said, munching on a packet of crisps in the eating area downstairs, "We got completely mislead to the wrong place and Jack's actually in New Zealand or somewhere?" After the five of them had unpacked they had met by the bar to get some sandwiches and discuss their situation. Alex stopped chewing and looked up. 

"We found that cloth, didn't we? On Jack's shirt?"

"But what if that was just a coincidence? Someone else had the same shirt, and they - "

"Li, do you want Jack to be here or not?" Amber said suddenly, glaring at the Anglo-Chinese girl. Li looked down at her food.

"Of course I do. I was just saying - "

"OK, OK. Don't worry. Sorry." sighed Amber. She was getting stressed again. Suddenly she didn't feel like eating and began to pick at her food. Not knowing where Jack was - or Hex's brother - was really getting on her mind and she couldn't focus much on anything else.

Hex stood up and stretched. "You won't mind if I just go visit my mum for a bit, do you? I can take a taxi. It's not far from here," he said, looking at his watch. Alex shook his head and swallowed down the food in his mouth.

"You go ahead," he said, reminded of how his mum must feel when he and his dad always ran off to their separate places, "do you want anyone to go with you?" Hex gave Alex a look that said, 'what does it look like?' but then shrugged.

"Not particularly," he said, "but someone can if they want."

"I'll go," said Amber, putting her plate down on the table and standing up, "See you guys later then." Hex coughed and nodded, and followed Amber towards the front foyer of the hotel.

* * *

Ben was terrified. 

He'd been woken up at about three o'clock in the morning by a noise near the window, and as soon as he had sat up to see what it was, someone had grabbed him and put a gag round his mouth. He'd tried to call out to his mum, or anyone who could listen, but he could hardly breath with the gag pulled so tightly across his mouth, let alone shout. They'd injected him with something quickly, so he couldn't remember much after that. Somehow he'd been taken down to the ground - either out the window or down the stairs he didn;'t know - and bundled into a car. The only thing he could remember at that point was that he was sick with fear; he had no idea what was going on, and he still wasn't sure that it wasn't all a dream. Even though he'd tried pinching himself quite often, he couldn't get his head round the fact that he was being kidnapped -

He didn't know what happened after that. He must have passed out. The next thing he knew, he was being woken up by a huge man in his fifties, who lent over him and smelt of beer. That hadn't helped to comfort Ben much. He'd been lying on the floor of a fingy hotel room, with his gag still on and his hands bound behind his back. The man sat him up roughly and untied his gag, pulled him to his feet and led him to a door on the left. Here was another man, bound to a chair. It helped Ben to know that he wasn't on his own here, that there were other prisoners too. The big man started talking to the man on the chair. Ben couldn't remember what he said, he was too scared to listen. All he could remember was that they both had an American accent.

Then a thought struck him: what if it had something to do with his brother, Hex? Hex was always going places during the holidays, and he never said why. He said he'd met a bunch of friends at some trip he went to a while ago, and spent time with them, and at first Ben had believed him. But when Hex started coming home with more cuts, bruises, and even scars, Ben had started to suspect something. Maybe Hex could help...?

After a few minutes, the big man took Ben over to another chair and sat him down. Then he felt his hands being untied, and his hopes started to rise. Only to be dashed when the man started tying them up again - to the chair. Then the big man left. And that was where Ben was now.

He turned to face the other man tied to the other chair, eager to get some information. "Who are you?" he said. It seemed like the most obvious question.

"Jack." Replied the man. He was definately an American, thought Ben.

"Why are you here? Why am I here?"

"I'm here because they want money off me. You're here because they took you hostage to try and force me to give them my money."

"What? I don't even know you. I've never seen you in my life. I don't even live in the same country as you - "

"Shut up, will you? I've got a headache."

"I just want to know why I'm here."

"Because I know a friend of your brother's." Ben's eyes widened.

_"Hex's?" _He knew it must have something to do with Hex. He wondered if Hex knew he was missing yet. It was light outside, so he must have been gone for quite a while. His mum must have noticed he wasn't there first thing in the morning. And maybe she'd told Hex by now.

He sighed and sat back in his chair. He was so hungry. He hadn't eaten anything all day, but looking at the huge man, he didn't look like he was going to be given any food that soon. It was like a film, he thought. He'd seen so many films where people were kidnapped or taken hostage, but never once in his thirteen years had he imagined it would ever happen to him. And he felt a lot different to how he thought he would. Thoughts kept running around his head: What will they do to me? When will they find me? Will they ever find me at all? Until the sense of fear and confusion overwhelmed him, and he dropped back into a restless and nightmarish sleep.

* * *

**Howzat! Sorry I didn;t know what Hex's brother is actually called - I jsut used the first name that came into my head! Again, reviews are always appreciated :D**


	8. Red Hatchback

**I have to give thanks to Elledreamer and SuperTD for being my constant reviewers... thank you guys for your support! Also to chop4tess, black oblivion, Torikins and cattycat92! Thank you guys!! And enjoy chapter eight...**

* * *

It was about six o'clock when Hex and Amber returned to the hotel for tea. Even though it was around tea time, the place was empty except for a few people down by the far window and a large family seated near Alex, Li and Paulo. The man at the counter was leaning against the wall, eyeing his cumtomers skeptically and drumming his fingers on the counter. Hex and Amber joined the others at the round table they'd found, with grime on the tabletop and a few pasta shells scattered across the floor. 

"You saw your mum, then?" said Li, budging up along the bench-seat to make room for Amber, while Hex drew up another chair. She aimed the question at Hex, but Amber nodded anyway and picked up the menu.

"I'm starved," she muttered, "Is there anything cheap?" Li pointed out the dish of the day and told Amber that was what she, Alex and Paulo were having. After Hex agreed to that too, she went up to the bar to order their meals.

"Did she tell you anything you didn't know already?" Paulo probed for answers. Hex shrugged.

"Just that she woke up in the morning and he wasn't there. The window was open and the drainpipe leading down from it was broken."

"Not much, then." Sighed Alex, resting his head against the back of his chair. Hex shot him a look.

"Information wasn't the only reason I went to see her, you know.She is kind of depressed at the moment." Alex looked shifty and looked down at his hands.

"I'm sorry," he began, "I didn't mean - " but Hex cut him off with a dismissive shrug.

Li returned two minutes later with a plastic number card and set it down on the table. "Five glasses of water and five dishes of the day on the way!" She said cheerfully, in an attempt to brighten the mood of the table, but it didn't work. "Jeez, what is it with you guys? Being depressed isn't going to solve any problems, you know." She plonked herself down by Amber and beamed at the others. Amber attempted a small smile and Paulo grinned widely at Li.

"So," said Amber, "Li's right. We need to start thinking about what to do next."

Hex was kicking himself inside. He knew he needed to concentrate to be able to help at all, but with other missions it had been so much easier when it was less personal. He racked his brains to think of what they could do. They could always try to locate the phone, but they would have probably changed it by now, especially when they found out that Jack's call had been traced.

Unless -

"Amber? Did Jack have a mobile phone?" He looked up suddenly. Amber looked surprised. This was the first contribution Hex had given towards their mission for nearly twenty-four hours.

"Yeah, I have his number in my phonebook."

"Can I have it?" Without a word, Amber passed her own phone into Hex's outstretched hand. His face reminded her of her own when they'd found a clue to Jack's whereabouts. Hex busied himself with his palmtop, suddenly lost to the world once again, and it occurred to Amber that he hadn't even looked at his palmtop either since he found out his little brother was missing. It must be a world record.

Hex swore. "It's turned off. There's no way we can trace it while it's off. They might have consfiscated it, anyway."

"What about your brother? Did he have a phone?" Hex stared at Paulo for a moment, taking in what he had just said.

"That's a great idea. I'm not thinking straight." Hex began typing away furiously again, only to be interrupted by Amber, quickly shutting the palmtop's lid and hiding it under the table. He looked at her for an explanation, but Amber just muttered out of the corner of her mouth,

"Food's coming. You never know who you can trust."

* * *

Ben and Jack were locked in the hotel room with no one but each other for company. It was beginning to get dark, and the room was gradually getting more chilly. They didn't notice until Ben gave a particularly violent shiver. Nobody was in sight; so they guessed Brody had gone out somewhere with the other people he was with. The light was mid-dark, which was hard on their eyes, and they could see the lightswitch by the door. But they couldn't reach it. 

"Do you think there are cleaners here? They might find us." Said Ben, breaking the uncomfortable silence. Jack shrugged as best as he could with the ropes binding his shoulders.

"I wouldn't think so. Looking at this place, it probably hasn't seen a broom since the seventies." Ben stared at Jack for a moment, then let a wry grin flicker across his face at his attempt at humour. He appreciated it a lot. It helped to lighten his heavy heart.

"I wonder if anyone's trying to find us right now," he sighed.

"Course they are. You've got a family, haven't you? They'll have noticed you're not there by now." Ben smiled inwardly, picturing Hex searching the earth to its four corners to find him. He nodded in satisfaction. And Hex would know about his disappearance, wouldn't he? And his father would too? Surely his mum told them both?

He was about to voice his thoughts when a key turned in the lock, startling them both. He looked up to see Brody's massive frame filling the doorway, and a hand reached out and switched on the light. That was when they saw the look on his face: greed mixed with eagerness and cruelty. He grinned at them both, and held up the electric device he'd shocked Jack with earlier.

"Right," he drawled, noting Ben's terrified face, "Let's get started then, shall we?"

* * *

Paulo watched as the others busied themselves with various activities. It had been a long day, and the jetlag was beginning to get to him. Earlier this morning, he remembered, he'd been somewhere completely different to this. He just needed some rest, and maybe he'd be able to think straight. Just needed a bit of sleep... 

"Paulo!" Alex's voice rang loudly in his ear, "Paulo, wake up, you moron! Look out the window!" Paulo automatically turned to the window. Like the others, he'd trained himself to wake up quickly to any call. He couldn't see anything distinct, just cars passing by with their bright headlights on in the dark.

"What?" He muttered. Then he saw it. Two headlights were moving faster than the others, weaving in and out of the other cars as if it was in a hurry. He strained his eyes to see better and saw it was a small red hatchback. Something in his mind bugged him: he'd seen it before somewhere, but he couldn't remember where.

"That car - I remember seeing it near that Kindle Road place in Boston - do you? And it seemed like it was in a hur - " But Alex never got to finish his sentence. As soon as he'd started speaking, Paulo had remembered seeing the car before, too. And he'd remembered part of the license plate automatically, which he'd caught a glimpse of as it passed the hotel. Alex stared after him for a moment, then turned back to Hex and Amber.

"Where's Li?" He said, noticing her absence.

"Er... she just followed Paulo somewhere. I think they saw an ice cream van." Hex replied absent-mindedly, still focussed on his palmtop. Alex shook his head and explained to them the events of the last two minutes.

"Gosh, are they going to follow it?" Asked Amber. Alex shrugged and nodded. He sat down next to Hex and peered at the screen of the palmtop.

"Found anything?" He asked.

"Nearly," said Hex, "give me a minute and I'll be there." A minute later, a big smile spread across Hex's features and he looked up and Alex and Amber, beaming. "It's another hotel - about half an hour away from here. That's where Ben is."

"You know, I've been thinking. What if their disappearances were connected somehow?" Alex thought aloud, staring at the lightbulb on the ceiling. "I mean, it's a bit of a coincidence, isn't it? Two people go missing in the same week, and they're both somehow connected to Hex. Maybe they're together."

"So that would mean that wherever Ben is, Jack is." said Amber.

"If I'm right." Alex concluded with a grim look on his face.

* * *

Paulo knew he had to catch up with the red hatchback if they were going to get any closer to finding Ben and Jack. He reached the car park and glanced around desperately for someone who mind lend them a car for a few minutes. He felt Li run up behind him and stop too. Then he caught sight of a man climbing out of a Land Rover by the entrance, turning around to lock the doors - 

"Hey!" Paulo yelled, running frantically towards the man, who turned and started at the big Argentinan incredulously, "Hey - can we borrow your car? I promise I'll give it back -" Paulo reached the man, breathing hard and grabbed the keys from his hand. The man was in his fifties or sixties, and too shocked to object. Paulo jumped in the front seat and Li ran around to the passenger side.

"You didn't have to come, you know." He muttered, turning the keys. Although he was secrectly glad that she was, he thought to himself. Li shrugged.

"You looked like you were up to something exciting."

Paulo swung out of the car park, narrowly avoiding the man who owned the car, and skidded out onto the street. The car was nowhere in sight, but he had a vague idea where it went. The roads were busy, and he had a good idea why the red hatchback had led them down this way; it was almost impossible to keep any car in sight. He decided to carry on going straight, and hopefully the traffic would thin. After about ten minutes of staying on the same road with impatient blaring of horns, they reached a crossroad. Paulo cursed and banged his fist on the dashboard.

"He could have gone any of these ways! They are all busy!" he said, scanning the cars for any sight of the car. It was almost useless now it was getting dark, but Paulo could remember that one of the backlights was a bit dimmed.

"There!" Li screamed, pointing to the left. Paulo leaned forwards and craned his neck to see the two uneven backlights swerving crazily through the traffic. At the last moment he swung the steering wheel left and the Land Rover screeched as it made the tight corner, leaving dark skidmarks on the ground and earning a lot of horns from other angry drivers. He ignored them and focussed his attention on the car ahead.

Thankfully the traffic was thinning out so he could see the car more clearly. He saw a sign pointing towards the motorway.

"It's going on the motorway!" called Li, as the other car swung left towards the sign. Paulo smiled grimly and followed. The car most probably knew that Paulo was following them now, so there was no point in hanging behind anymore.

* * *

Hex punched his brother's mobile phone number into his, and pressed call. Frantically he waited for Ben to pick up and say something like, "Why were you so worried? I'm fine," but it continued ringing. Hex was about to hang up when he heard the familiar beeps that said the person on the other end of the line had hung up. He looked at his phone, confused. 

"What? Did he answer?" said Amber, taking Hex's phone from him and peering at the screen.

"No. He hung up. Or someone did. Someone who doesn't want -"

"Try again." Amber thrust Hex's phone back at him. He tried once more, but Ben's had been switched off. Hex bit his lower lip. Obviously someone had taken Ben's phone when they'd heard it ringing and not wanted anyone to find out anything from Ben.

"Well, at least we know where he is." Amber muttered, scowling.

"Hey, don't you go and get all upset. We'll find Jack too, you know." Alex put a hand on Amber's shoulder, who shrugged and closed her eyes, breathing deeply.

"Yeah. hopefully you're right, Alex. Hopefully they are together."

* * *

It was taking all of Paulo's road skill to follow the hatchback. Whoever was driving it was an expert at this sort of stuff. Maybe they'd had a few years in the criminal career, Li thought, as she knew Paulo was an expert driver himself and was struggling to keep up. With all the other cars surrounding them it was a lot harder to keep sight of the hatchback, but every now and then they'd catch sight of a dimmed back light.

Thank God that the owner of the Land Rover hadn't put up a fight. They'd have to find a way to repay him. Hopefully they wouldn't do it any damage, except for using up a bit of petrol.

They lost sight of the hatchback for a bit, as it went in front of a large lorry painted like a cow, but they soon caught sight of it again when the lorry turned off the motorway.

"He definately knows the best places to lose someone." Paulo said, craning his neck to see the hatchback more clearly.

"Well, we definately know we've got one expert driver who do anything, given he's got a couple of wheels." Li said, in an attempt to encourage Paulo. Glancing sideways, she saw him grin slightly.

* * *

"Who do you think was in the car?"

Amber, Alex and Hex had retreated to Alex's hotel room to talk more privately. Amber sat on the floor, looking at Alex, who was lounging on the bed. Hex was curled up in an armchair with his palmtop resting on his knees.

"I don't know." Alex admitted, "But I saw it down Kindle Road too. Probably a friend of Brody's or something."

"Maybe." Amber continued, "I wonder how Paulo and Li are getting on. Do you think they've caught them by now?"

"No," Hex interrupted, "He said he'd text me if anything interesting happened."

"And he hasn't?"

"No." Amber sighed.

"Shall I call them?"

"Nah. Best to let them get on with it. If they're not back for a while, then we can call them." Alex replied.

Amber stood up and stretched, then glanced at her watch. "Anyway, I'm going to go to bed. We might have a big day tomorrow. Wake me up if you get any news." Alex waved at her, but Hex just nodded, not even looking up from the screen. He hadn't been too happy since he found out Ben was missing, but that was understandable. Maybe she should talk to him tomorrow, she thought, and went to get dressed and ready for bed.

* * *

Paulo glanced at the dashboard of the Land Rover. He just prayed that the tank was full. It would be gutting if they ran out of petrol halfway through. He focussed once again at the car in front, which had accelerated and gained a bit more distance between the two. Paulo was about to press down harder when he hesitated. They were already going at near 90mph, well over the speed limit, and if they had an accident he knew the consequences would be dangerous.

"Paulo, he's getting out of sight! Go faster!" Li yelled, leaning forwards to catch sight of the red hatchback. Paulo bit his lower lip and went faster, until they rounded the corner and -

"Where's it gone?" Paulo said out loud. The car was nowhere in sight, and it wasn't as if the motorway was very busy anyway. A few cars passed them as Paulo dropped his speed again. "There's nowhere it could have gone! It's just disappeared!"

Li frowned, thinking hard. There weren't any junctions for another three miles, and the hard shoulder was empty. She looked at the side of the road, where beyond the fence and the hedges was a steep hill. The car couldn't have gone down there at the speed they'd been going at and come out alive. She sighed frustratedly. Just when the action was beginning, it had gone. Vanished into thin air.

As soon as she heard Paulo yell, she knew she'd been naive. Two headlights, one slightly dimmed, appeared suddenly in front of them, literally ten metres from the rapicly approaching Land Rover. The hatchback must have been there all the time, with it's lights turned off, waiting for them to get closer. And when they had turned back on, it had the desired effect. Paulo swerved violently to the left, unaware of the drop beyond the hedge, everything becoming blurred as the fence crumpled and Li's screams filled the car...

* * *

**Dun dun duunnn... oh the evil cliffhangers!!! Please review! Updations will come soon :)**


	9. The Aftermath

**Thanks for all your reviews! By the way I haven't got a clue how long this fanfic is going to last. I've got an idea in my head of what's going to happen, but the truth of how many chapters it will take up remains unknown...**

* * *

"What time is it?" asked Amber for the fourth time in the last half an hour, pacing the floor of Alex's room impatiently. They had retreated here to get some privacy and be able to talk openly without worrying about who would here. Alex was lounging on the bed and Hex was sitting curled up in the armchair by the wardrobe. Hex sighed and looked at his watch. 

"Nine o'clock. Just like when you asked ten minutes ago it was ten to nine." Amber ignored the comment.

"Shouldn't Paulo and Li be back by now? Can I call them?"

"Do you think we should?" Alex wondered, leaning forwards on his elbows, "They left about two hours ago." Amber nodded and dialled Paulo's number. It rang for a minute but no one answered. She sighed loudly and tried again, to the same effect. "Try Li's number." Alex suggested.

"Nope. She's not answering either. Should we go look for them if they're not back by half nine? Something must have happened in two hours. They can't still be on the chase now, can they?"

"OK, leave it half an hour, but keep calling them." Alex replied, and shut his eyes tight, resting his head in his arms. Hopefully Li and Paulo were all right - otherwise it would be down to just the three of them to rescue four. He couldn't think why Li or Paulo weren't answering. If they didn't want any calls, they would have switched their phones off. And even if Paulo was driving, surely Li could answer? He just hoped that half an hour wouldn't make any difference.

* * *

Li could hear something. It was an irritating sound that only seemed to be making her headache worse. What was it? Why was it there? And why did she have a headache anyway? She swatted her arm above her head, wondering if it was just a fly. The noise continued for a few more seconds, then stopped. She opened her eyes to make sure it was gone, but it was dark. Too dark. Where was she? It felt like she was on a tilt. Feeling around, she could make out the interior features of some sort of car. Then she saw the windscreen. It was smashed. She turned her head to the left and saw a dark landscape outside the window, then looked to the right and saw - 

"Paulo?" She asked. It took a couple tries to get her voice to work. Paulo was slumped against the steering wheel, blood seeping down the back of his neck and a large purple bruise emerging on his cheekbone. "Paulo, are you OK?" Li's voice was high with panic. She tried to lift her right arm to feel his pulse, but cried out as a sharp pain stabbed in her shoulder. She was working on autopilot, not really knowing what she was doing or why.

Turning awkwardly, she raised her left arm instead, but was interrupted by a scream coming from outside. She turned quickly and saw a woman rushing towards the car, frantically talking to someone on the phone. She didn't understand what was happening. The woman swung Li's door wide open and stared at Li in shock.

"Oh my gosh, are you OK? Hold on, I'm calling an ambulance. Are you hurt?" Li hardly took in anything of what the woman said, but it didn't matter because she didn't wait for an answer. She started talking on the phone again, and a young man approached the car.

"Can you get out?" He said, offering Li his hand. Li didn't know - she just wanted to know if Paulo was OK.

"Paulo - " she whispered, but the man cut her off.

"We'll see to your friend later. You - "

"But - "

"No buts. We've got to make sure you're safe as well." While the man began helping Li out of the car, he continued talking. "You guys were really lucky you know. Those hedges at the top broke your fall, and you hit a tree halfway down the slope so you only fell about ten metres. That's why you're on a tilt."

"Mm." murmurmed Li, staring at the people stood in anxious huddles around the car. Faces of sympathy and pity. Why were they pitying her? Was she really - or was it Paulo? Was Paulo dead?"

"Paulo!" she suddenly cried out.

"He's OK, he's alive," someone called out from the Land Rover. Without Li realising, the man had gone back to the car and checked on Paulo. Thank God, she thought. She didn't even know what happened. All she could remember was two backlights suddenly appearing out of nowhere, and she'd been terrified. After that, her memory was blank. She turned to the woman who had called an ambulance.

"What happened?" she said, trying to stay calm. The woman smiled and laid an arm on Li's injured arm. Li cried out and the woman retreated hastily, apologising.

"I'm sorry. Is it OK? I'm not totally sure. You just veered off the motorway and down the bank. You were very lucky, really..." The woman just repeated what the man had already told her. Li's autopilot took over again, and she started checking herself over for injuries. Just an injured arm - possibly broken - an immense headache and a few cuts and bruises. She couldn't believe she was alive. It was like she was dreaming and any moment she'd wake up in the after life.

At least she was OK - but she wasn't so sure about Paulo.

* * *

"It's half nine." Hex muttered to Alex half an hour later. Amber had gone back to her own room for a bit, leaving the other two to ponder on their own for a while. Alex stretched and stood up. 

"Amber might have got through. I'll go see." A couple minutes later Alex returned, looking grim. Amber was behind him, and they entered and shut the door. Hex didn't need them to tell him; he could guess by the looks on their faces.

"So what do you suggest we do?" He asked.

"How about we hire a car and track them?" suggested Amber, helplessly, shrugging her shoulders.

"Track them with what? A metal detector?" Hex grimaced sarcastically. Amber sat down and stared at her hands. Her nails were chipped and short; she'd been biting them a ot recently.

"I don't know. I really don't. I could keep calling them, but I don't think any of them will be answering soon/

"We could check into a few local hospitals, but that would be a bit time consuming." Amber suggested, but Hex shook his head.

"I could do that from here," Hex tapped his palmtop, "in a few minutes." While Hex got to work, Alex turned to Amber.

"Call them again. Either one." Amber nodded silently and dialled Paulo's number. It rang for a few seconds again, and Amber shook her head sadly. Then suddenly the ringing stopped, and a shrill voice was suddenly talking through the earpiece, so high with panic but flooded with relief. Amber grinned.

"It's Li," she said.

* * *

Li heard the ringing just as she was about to climb into the ambulance. She recognised it as the same annoying sound which had woken her up to start with - of course it was Paulo's cell phone! 

"Wait!" she cried, and pulled herself out of the nurse's grip. Ignoring the pain in her arm, she ran down the slope back to the other ambulance and jumped in, where Paulo was being lifted onto the bed. She grabbed his cell phone from his pocket and saw it was Amber calling. Excited, she pressed 'answer' and began talking immediately.

"Amber, thank God! I'm OK, and Paulo should be - we were so lucky! There was this tree - "

"Li - Li, stop, calm down. Where are you?" Amber's voice cut through, clear and calm.

"I don't know. We're just getting in the ambulance - "

"Which hospital is it?"

"I don't know. Paulo should be OK, they said, but he's in a worse state than me. They said - " Suddenly the nurse appeared again, and began guiding Li back towards the ambulance.

"Hey, Amber, can you meet us at the hospital? I've got to go." Amber was about to protest when Li hung up. Thankfully, Li stepped inside the ambulance, grateful that she was going somewhere safe. She still wasn't completely in her right mind, but that was OK. She'd be fine soon enough.

* * *

"She hung up." 

"What? Why?" Alex frowned. Amber related the conversation to the two boys. When she'd finished, Hex said:

"I know which hospital they're at. And I know where it is." He looked up and grinned at the other two. "Shall we grab a cab?"

"Great! How did you find out?"

"Got onto this website that said - anyway, let's go."

The three of them called a taxi and waited outside for it to turn up. Amber didn't want to think about what had happened to Li and Paulo - they didn't even know if they were OK! Obviously something had happened - Li sounded very vague and unsure of herself, as if she was in shock from something. And as for Paulo, Amber didn't want to think about the worst. But Li had said he'd be OK... but in what way? What had happened in the first place?

The taxi came about ten minutes later. It was beginning ro rain slightly - typical Spring rain, thought Hex - and puddles from previous rainy days were forming on the road and pavement. As it came by, the taxi ran through a puddle, splashing Amber more than Hex allowed himself. Hex allowed himself a small inwards grin as Amber tutted stared at the taxi in disgust.

"Sorry I couldn't get a private jet," said Hex as Amber climbed into the backseat, "but they were all hired out. And a bit pricey, too." Amber scowled and stared out the window. Alex caught Hex's eye and they both surpressed the laugh at their lips.

* * *

Li sat down gratefully to wait for Paulo or the others to turn up. She'd been checked over and treated for a badly bruised shoulder, minor head injuries and a few cuts and bruises, but nothing more. Now the shock from the accident was beginning to wear off, the memory was beginning to come back to her and she could see how lucky they were. 

How lucky _she _was, she corrected herself. She was pretty certain Paulo would be OK, but the nurses hadn't said anything to her since he went in for surgery over two hours ago. But that was a good sign, she told herself, because if it was serious then she would have been told immediately. Wouldn't she?

A door swung open and a nurse came striding towards her. Oh, gosh, thought Li, this is it. Something's happened - something serious. Until she saw the three familiar faces behind her, and she felt a wide grin spreading unintentionally across her face.

"I think these guys wanted to see you," said the nurse in a curt voice, and moved on through the next doors. Li smiled, relieved, at the other three.

"Thank God you're here," she said, "I'm sorry I didn't give you any details. I was kind of in shock." Alex sat down next to Li and Amber found another seat behind Alex.

"That's OK. Are you OK? Where's Paulo?" she asked, looking Li directly in the eye.

"I'm fine. I've already been treated. I'm not so sure about Paulo. They said he'd be OK though. Probably. He's in surgery right now."

"What happened?" Li related the story in her own words, glad to be able to share it with someone else. She was exhausted, and at that moment all she wanted to do was sleep, but she knew she had to let the others know. When she'd finished, they sat in grim silence for a while.

"Er... I'll go get a drink or something." Hex muttered, and wandered off in search of a vending machine.

"So, whoever it was, is obviously serious about this." Amber sighed, "I hope Jack's OK."

"And Ben," Alex reminded her. Amber nodded.

"And Paulo." Li sniffed. Amber smiled comfortingly and put an arm round her shoulder.

"He'll be OK. Are you going to stay here overnight? We can take you home if you like, can't we, Alex?"

"No, no. I'll stay. Paulo might get out and wonder where we all are. Or where he is, even." Li sniffed and wiped her nose on her sleeve, just as Hex came back with a bottle of coke. He passed it to Li and leaned against the wall.

"So what's happening?" He inquired, looking at Alex. Amber was too busy helping Li.

"We'll go back - you, me and Amber. Li's gonna stay overnight until Paulo wakes up. Then we'll probably get them as soon as Paulo's well enough, or Li." Hex nodded.

"I guess we'll be off then, so we can all get some rest. Are you gonna be allright, Li?" Amber stood up and stretched. Li smiled and nodded. After saying goodbye, she headed off to find a doctor or a nurse, while Alex, Amber and Hex went back to call another taxi home.

* * *

Amber hummed softly to herself as she made her way down the corridor to Hex's room. It was just gone midnight, and they'd returned back to the hotel fifteen minutes earlier. Alex was having a shower, and she made up her mind to go and talk to Hex. She opened the door cautiously and smiled at Hex when he looked up from his palmtop. 

"You OK?" she said, sitting down next to the wardrobe.

"Fine, thanks. You?" Amber studied Hex's face. He was obviously avoiding eye contact.

"I meant, OK with everything that's been going on recently. You've been kinda quiet." Hex gave her a funny look. "Well, quieter than usual." she added. Hex shrugged.

"I'm fine. Really."

"Really?"

"Yup."

"You're mom was a bit stressed. I mean, she looked all flustered and everything when we went to see her. Is she usually like that?"

"No, but that's understandable, isn't it?"

Amber got up and wandered around the room. Hex wasn't in the mood for talking, that much was obvious. Not that he ever was, usually, as he liked to keep himself to himself. But she was worried, all the same. People should talk; that was her theory. She sat down by Hex's pillow and looked out the window.

"Look, Hex, don't get me wrong. I know what it's like to lose a family member. And I know how you feel right now. But it helps so much if you talk."

"What if I don't want to talk about it? Amber, people have different ways of sorting out their own problems. I prefer not to talk about them - is that such a big deal?" Amber bit her lip.

"I just wanted to let you know that if you ever wanted to talk, then I'm here, OK? I know what you're going throught." She said it all in one breath, then waited anxiously for Hex's response. He appeared to be thinking for a moment, but then he looked up and smiled.

"Thanks. Sorry. I just - "

"Nah, it's OK. Understandable. Goodnight." Amber said, relieved. The corner of her mouth twitched. On her way out, she bent down and kissed Hex on the forehead, like she had done when he'd been forced to swim back through the underground tunnels alone all those months ago.

"Night." Hex replied as she shut the door.

* * *

The minutes passed by slowly and Li was struggling to sleep. She lay on her side in the hospital bed and watched the second hand as it went round on its endless journey... 1:32, 1:33... she'd been lying awake for over an hour now. There still wasn't any word about Paulo. She sighed and looked around her ward. She was with about seven other people with minor injuries, like broken bones. They were all fast asleep, except for one girl across the ward who kept shouting out. Eventually a nurse had come in and moved her. Now there was silence, and Li didn't like it. It only added to the darkness, and silence in hospitals never meant anything good.

At around 2:00 she finally heard more footsteps. Cautiously they approached her bed, and stopped by the pillow. Li turned her head to see who it was.

"Li? Are you awake?" Said a friendly voice. Li mumbled in reply, but was excited about hearing a nurse's voice. She got out of bed and followed the nurse into the corridor. It was the nice one who'd bandaged Li's arm. She couldn't have been any more than five years older than Li herself.

"Your friend - Paulo - he's absolutely fine. Doctors were worried he'd suffered brain damage, but he was incredibly lucky. He'll be waking up in a few minutes - you can go see him if you like." Her heart pounding, Li made her way to Paulo's room where the light was switched off and she could make out the dark bulk of his bed by the window. Fortunately it was a dimmer switch so she could turn the light on gradually without it hurting her eyes too much.

"Paulo?" She whispered. At first she heard nothing from Paulo's still form. There was a tube attached to his arm and a bandage around his head, but apart from that he looked OK He just looked like he was sleeping. Li smiled and sat down on a chair next to Paulo's head, when she heard Paulo mutter something in reply.

"Li?" He said. Li nearly laughed out loud. She was so relieved that he was OK. She'd been expecting the worst, and she wasn't totally prepared to believe the nurse before she saw Paulo herself.

"Thank God you're OK," she whispered, and squeezed his hand. Paulo squeezed hers back.

* * *

"Hex? Are you awake?" Alex whispered from outisde Hex's door. He hadn't been able to sleep since they'd got back, and he thought that if he couldn't sleep then he might as well be doing something else/

"No," Hex called from inside, and Alex came in. Hex was sitting up on his bed, tapping away on his palmtop, "I can't sleep."

"Well, Li just called. Paulo's fine." Alex watched as Hex's shoulders sagged and a look of relief came across his face. He smiled.

Hex wanted to be fully relieved, but it was hard when he still didn't know where Ben was. "Do you think it had anything to do with Jack or Ben?" He said, looking at Alex intently. Alex shrugged.

"I think it probably did. I saw a red hatchback like that one when we were back in Boston. And the backlight was dimmed."

Hex sighed. He didn't want to blame Paulo or anyone for anything - it wasn't Paulo's fault they'd crashed. But if they'd managed to follow the car back to its base, then they would know for sure where one - or maybe both - of them were.

"Well, at least it's a start." Alex said encouragingly. Hex appreciated it.

* * *

**Has anyone noticed how my chapters get longer and longer by a few words each time? The first one had about 1500 words and now I'm at 3000. Impressive! It's also nearly as long as Elledreamer's fanfic, which in my opinion is quite an achievement for 9 chapters! Please review :D**


	10. Hotel

**Ooh... ten chapters!! Exciting! OK, firstly, thank you to everyone who reviewed. Reviews are good. They let you know that people are reading your stories. Secondly, thank you especially to Elledreamer and SuperTD for your support and stuff. Thirdly... I've ran out of points to make... and fourthly, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Hex emerged last from his room the next morning. Amber and Alex were already sitting downstairs in the cafe having breakfast. Hex wanted to smile when he saw Amber's exotic something and Alex's big English breakfast, but he wasn't in the mood. In fact he was incredibly tired, after not getting much sleep the night before. Something was nagging at the back of his brain, that in the last 12 hours they'd done nothing much to help either Ben or Jack. 

He sat down at the table with Amber and Alex, but he didn't order anything. His appetite wasn't particularly making itself known right now.

"Hey, Hex," said Amber, taking a bite from whatever it was on her plate.

"What is that?" Hex looked at Amber's breakfast in disgust.

"I think it was gerbil, wasn't it, Amber?" Alex said, grinning maliciously. They all remembered well the time Amber had ordered a guinea pig once from a restaurant because the name sounded fancy. Amber scowled.

"Actually, no. It's something called Cowboy Fritatta. They do it a lot in the States." Hex rolled his eyes and leaned back. "Don't you want any breakfast?" Hex shook his head and mumbled something about not being hungry. Amber shrugged and took another bite out of her 'Cowboy Fritatta.'

Hex was suddenly aware of a middle-aged man approaching their table. He looked a bit shocked, but there was an air of anger around him. He stopped behind Alex and cleared his throat. Alex jumped in surprise and turned around.

"Excuse me," said the man, staring at all three of them in turn. He didn't say anyhting else, so Amber said sweetly,

"Yes?"

"I couldn't help noticing yesterday that you were in the company of a huge boy and a small Chinese girl. Am I right?"

"Yes."

"They stole my car. And they promised to get it back to me. And they haven't. Do you know anything?"

Realisation suddenly hit Amber like a bolt of electricity. Paulo and Li must have borrowed this man's car and crashed it. Amber hadn't even thought about where they'd gotten a car from before. She wondered why it had never occured to her.

"Er... I'm sorry..." Amber looked desperately at Alex and Hex for guidance.

"They crashed. We can get you a new car." Hex said bluntly. He didn't know what else to say.

"What?" The man looked shocked. Alex could tell this could get bad, and if they didn't move out of the cafe then they could get chucked out of the hotel.

"Look, I'm really sorry. I really am. We only just heard last night that they'd been in a car crash, and we didn't realise it was your car. We do have a reason for taking your car, and I'm really sorry about that. Really, really sorry. We can exchange contact details and I'll get back to you as soon as possible about it."

"But I need my car now! I've got to meet someone in half an hour!" The man's voice was rising and a few customers at nearbly tables were beginning to turn their heads. Alex could tell this wasn't getting anywhere. He stood up.

"Let's talk outside, OK?" He led the man outside. Amber suddenly turned on Hex.

"Are you crazy? Why the hell did you offer to buy a new car? And where do you think you're gonna get the money from?" She hissed. Hex bit his lip.

"What else could I say? Oh well, you'll just have to buy a new one yourself?" Amber sighed and put her head in her hands.

"We could definately afford it - Uncle, I mean - but he's going to kill me."

"I'll say it was my fault." Amber smiled and sighed.

"We should go down and check out that hotel where you said Ben was today. Li might even be able to come." Hex nodded. If they were still there, he thought privately to himself. But he didn't say anything.

* * *

Alex led the man quickly outside and put a hand on his shoulder. The man was going purple, Alex was sure. 

"We are so sorry about your car. But we can sort it all out for you. Insurance and everything. Honestly, we didn't mean for any of this to happen..."

"Right, I get the point. There's nothing else for you to do. I want all your contact details, so I can get in touch with you."

"Sure thing." Alex hesitated. Whose should he give? He decided on Amber's mobile and Hex's e-mail address. They were the ones which were used the most. He quickly scribbled them down on a piece of paper and handed it to the man. He glanced at it, and said,

"Where's the home address?"

"That's not really necessary, is it?" Alex said, surprised. He wouldn't want this man to come knocking on any of their doors any time soon. The man grunted and shoved the paper in his pocket.

"I might go to the police about this." Alex was shocked. But before he could reply, the man turned on his heel and left. This was the worst thing that could happen - if the man went to the police and they found out about everything, Alpha Force would probably be disbanded for all the things they had done in the past which hadn't been strictly legal. He swore quietly to himself and ran back in to tell Hex and Amber what had happened. They weren't happy.

"Gosh, I'm not looking forward to telling the others." Amber muttered.

* * *

Paulo woke up later that day. He had a splitting headache and the light from his room was only making it worse. At first he didn't have a clue where he was, but gradually he recognised the form of Li sitting next to his pillow. Her dark head suddenly moved. 

"Paulo! Are you OK?"

"Mrgrmumerum." Paulo mumbed and squinted, trying to make out Li's face. Eventually he realised she was grinning from ear to ear, and there was a scratch on her forehead. He looked down. Her arm was bandaged. Suddenly he realised she was talking some more, and he strained to make out the words.

"...are going to check out this hotel Hex found on the internet last night. They think it might be where Ben and Jack are./Or Ben, at least. They can't really wait for us, because they might move on again. But Alex said..."

"What happened?" Paulo interrupted. Li stopped mid-sentence and looked surprised.

"Oh, of course. Sorry! You crashed the car. You're gonna be OK, though. They thought you might have brain damage or something. I don't think you do, though. I mean -"

Paulo's senses were coming back. He could tell Li was panicking with all the talking she was doing.

"Li, stop. You're giving me a headache." Li suddenly stopped and grinned sheepishly. She leaned forwards and threw her arms around Paulo's neck, almost cutting off his air supply.

"I'm just so glad you're OK," she said, and sat back happily. Paulo grinned back.

* * *

Amber sighed and looked at her watch. 

"Your London taxi drivers sure don't worry about being on time, do they?" She muttered. Hex cast her an amused glance.

"Would you rather we took a plane? I'm sure that'd get here a lot quicker - " He cut off when he saw the look on Amber's face. Annoying Amber when she wasn't in a good mood was a very bad idea. He'd learnt that well in the couple years he'd known her.

Eventually the taxi turned up, twenty minutes after they called. Hex didn't see that as late. It was pretty good, considering the taxi company had to call a taxi man first and then they had to drive all the way over to wherever they were. He climbed in the back with Alex, while Amber sat in the front seat.

"Where is it you wanted to go?" The taxi driver inquired, looking at Alex and Hex in the mirror.

Hex gave him the directions to the hotel he'd found on the internet the day before. The man nodded grimly.

"I know that place. Stayed there for a while before I got my job. Not the nicest place, I must say..." He trailed off when he saw the disgusted look on Amber's face. "Ah, well, here we go."

Fifteen minutes later, he pulled to the side of the road. Amber stared at him.

"Why have you stopped?" She said. They were in the middle of an urban area, and most of the buildings had boarded up windows and half-hinged doors. The taxi-driver pointed out the nearest building with a flourish. It was one of the better made up buildings, and most of the windows were still in use, except for one on the top window.

"Your hotel, ma'am." He grinned. Amber's face twisted into a grimace and she climbed slowly out of the cab. Alex followed, while Hex quickly paid the taxi driver. The taxi hurried off, as if he didn't want to stay there for too long.

"Hex? Are you sure this is the right place?" Alex said, staring up at the daunting building. Hex nodded grimly and pointed to the sign above the door.

"Just hope they're OK," he muttered under his breath.

Amber approached the front door warily. The path was a long one, and weeds were poking up between the cracks in the pavement. Alex and Hex followed behind, listening anxiously for any sign on life. Amber pushed the door open. It was like a horror movie, she thought, where any moment you expected something or someone to jump out and grab you. Or eat you.

Inside was dark, but it was obvious it was some sort of hotel. There was a small desk behind glass where a man was sleeping with his head on the desk. Amber peered round at the two boys.

"Should we just ask? Or go away and come up with a plan?" She whispered, not wanting to wake up the man in case they decided to go away and come back later. Alex shook his head.

"Might as well ask while we're here."

Amber nodded and tapped lightly on the window. The man jumped and stared around wildly, as if visitors only came once in a blue moon. They probably only did, Amber thought. The man was in his forties at the most, and Amber could tell that he hadn't shaved for a while. His hair was scraggly and hung across his face like shadows.

"Er..." she began, but changed her mind when she realised that giving away her American accent could be crucial if this man knew anything. She looked pointedly at Hex, who immediately read her mind and came forward.

"We're looking for some friends. We know they were staying somewhere around here, but we're not sure where. You don't have any visitors at the moment, do you?"

The man coughed. "By what name?" He grumbled. Hex looked at Alex, who was waiting outside the door.

"Brody." Alex mouthed.

"Brody." Hex said quickly. At once the man perked up, startled.

"Brody? Never 'eard of them. Came to the wrong place. Haven't had any visitors here in nearly two years." Amber studied his face. Surely he was hiding something? Any sign of a flinch, a twitch or anything could give his game away. But there was nothing. She sighed and turned back towards the door. But just before she did, she saw the tiniest flicker in the corner of his left eye. Something was definately up here.

* * *

"So what's happening?" After a morning's rest, Paulo was awake and feeling well enough to discuss the situation with Li. Aparently, like Li, he'd been very lucky in the crash, and escaped with concussion, a couple broken ribs and several cuts and bruises. He was sitting up in bed while Li was pacing the room, transferring all her knowledge to Paulo. 

"I don't know much. I think they went to see the hotel Hex found on the internet. They might even be there now. Alex said they met the man whose car we crashed." Paulo's eyes widened. He'd forgotten all about the expensive Land Rover.

"_Dios_," he muttered, "What happened?"

"I'm not sure. I think they exchanged details and promised to get back to him. Not sure what they'll do, though."

"What _we'll_ do," Paulo corrected her. Li smiled.

"Hopefully we'll be able to buy him a new one or something. Alex said he went purple." Paulo grinned. He wondered where the others were now, whether they'd found Ben or Jack... or was that hope a bit too far-fetched?

* * *

"Can we go on it?" Amber asked, watching the London Eye slowly revolve around against the mid-afternoon sky. She, along with the two boys, had taken a break nearer the city centre to think over what they were going to do and discuss their plans. 

"Not now," said Hex, who was in deep thought, "but maybe later." Amber smiled. She could tell Hex was a bit awkward having the others here in his hometown with him, and she was sure the others could tell to. He almost acted as if he'd never been here before. Maybe it was because it was so rough and violent compared to Boston?

"OK. After we've sorted everything. So what should we do?"

"How about we go visit Paulo and Li? They might have some helpful imput." suggested Alex, "By the way, Li called. Paulo's absolutely fine. He's sitting up and talking to her."

"That's good," breathed Amber. Suddenly Hex's mobile phone rang again. Amber and Alex fell silent as he answered. Two minutes later he hung up and stared at the other two.

"That was my mum," he said earnestly, "She said Ben called a minute ago. And he was like - really distressed, or something. He said they were in some sort of hotel, but he couldn't talk long because someone would be coming back soon. So I guess that kind of confirms what we thought." Amber stared at him.

"Gosh, I guess we really should hurry up with this thing, then. I just hope him and Jack are together. It's a faint hope, but it could be so."

* * *

There was a knock on Paulo's door, making both him and Li jump with surprise. They grinned, though, when they saw the familiar face of Amber peep through the door. She smiled widely and entered, followed by Alex, who shut the door. 

"Hello!" said Amber, grinning broadly at them both. Paulo nodded back and Li replied with a 'hi.'

"Good to see you guys," Alex said, and sat down on a chair.

"Good. Where's Hex?" Asked Paulo, noticing the hacker's absence.

"He went to see his mum again. He got another call from her." Li's eyes widened.

"Really? What about?" Alex related the phonecall to Paulo and Li, who listened intently. When he'd finished, they sat for a bit in silence, thinking over what it must be like.

"I hope he's OK," murmured Li, and the other's nodded in agreement. Whether she was talking about Hex or Ben, no-one said, but no-one needed to.

"But for now, we definately know where they, or at least Ben, is. But we kind of thought we needed to come up with a plan first. We could always try disguising someone as a cleaner or homeless person?" Alex suggested.

"Paulo!" Amber said at once, and they all laughed. In their previous missions, Paulo had always ended up disguising himself as a dirty beggar. No-one knew why, but he was just very good at it.

"No, I think a cleaner." Li thought out loud, "One of us could be like a college student - which we all nearly are - just looking for a small job to earn some money. Either Alex or Hex, because they're the most English-looking."

"Not surprising, really," Amber muttered.

"The hotel manager's already seen Hex. He and Amber spoke to him while I waited outside." Alex said.

"So that would mean - "

"You're the only English person he hasn't seen." Paulo finished off.

* * *

Hex rang the doorbell and waited patiently for his mum to answer. Just before they'd left the field, he'd decided to pay his mum a visit, as they were so near his home anyway. He hadn't seen her for a couple days. Eventually she opened the door and peeped outside. She was still in her dressing gown, despite the fact that it was mid-afternoon, and what little make-up she wore had smudged down her face. 

"Hex!" she said, and made a failing attempt to smile. She opened the door further allowing Hex to enter. Once inside, he noticed the curtains were closed but the house was immaculate. The hoover was perched neatly in a corner.

"Why are the curtains closed? You hate dark houses." He said, moving over to the window to open them.

"Leave them," his mum called out. Hex turned, surprised. He noticed how down his mum was looking, and she looked as though she had even lost some weight since he had last saw her a couple days ago. "There's no point. I don't want people looking in and seeing me in this state.

"Well why don't you clean yourself up? Get changed, for a start."

"There's no point in that, either." Hex looked around the dark hallway. There wasn't a crumb on the carpet, nor a dirty mark on the wall. There wasn't even any dust on the skirting board.

"Then what's the point in cleaning up so much?" Hex's mum fell silent. She didn't know how to reply, but Hex was staring at her, waiting for an answer.

"It kind of takes my mind off everything. Gives me something to do." She quickly moved into the kitchen, which was just as tidy as the hall was, and sat down on the counter. Hex looked around. He couldn't help wishing that his house had been this clean when Amber had come to visit. It had been so embarrasing with all the mess everywhere when she'd come, and even Hex saw the look of surprise on her face that she was trying to hide.

"What did you come for, anyway? Aren't you staying near here? Why don't you just stay in the house? Is it me?" Hex's mum said 'casually', brushing some crumbs from the counter into her cupped hands and tipping them in the bin.

"Course it's not. I've just got some friends round here from loads of places, and I was staying with them." Hex stared at his mum, who didn't react at all. She just carried on perfecting the countertop. "Have you been eating right?" He said suddenly. Regret suddenly filled his mind. Why did he say that so quickly? It had just popped out of his mouth before he had a chance to think about what he was saying. Her head snapped up.

"Why?" She demanded. Hex gave her a look, and she sighed. "I don't know. I just haven't had the time. OK, maybe it's just that I'm too worried. I haven't felt like eating. The police say they're looking, but I don't think they've found anything. He will be OK, though, won't he?"

Hex thought for a moment, then nodded.

He wasn't sure why he did it so confidently, but the look on his mum's face was satisfactory enough.

* * *

**Oops... I was looking back through this story and realised how many spelling mistakes I'd been making! I'm really sorry, it's because Word on my computer stopped working so I had to write all my chapters in FanFiction itself, which doesn't have a spell check. Word is working again now, so I'll try and be a bit more careful with my spellings after this chapter :D**

**(P.S. Please review!)**


	11. Released or Not?

**Chapter 11 up! I can't believe how long this fic is getting. Anyway, reviews would be appreciated!! As I've said so many times before! Also, thanks to everyone who has reviewed, and thanks to everyone who has reviewed to every chapter! Sit back, and enjjoy...**

* * *

Li was released from the hospital when the others left. Saying their goodbyes to Paulo, she left along with Alex and Amber and waited outside for the taxi. It was getting dark and beginning to drizzle. 

Li shivered violently and hugged herself tightly, pulling her thin jacket over her shoulders. Next to her, Amber did the same. The streets were a lot less busy than theyhad been earlier, and a few people could be seen hurrying past or running quickly to their cars with their hands over their heads in order to stop themselves getting too wet. The London Eye was slowly revolving in the distance, with its lights shining brightly but slightly blurred through the rain.

The sound of tyres splashing through puddles broke the silence, and the black taxi pulled up beside the three of them. The passenger door was pushed open and the driver poked his head up at them.

"In you get then!" He called, and sat back in his seat. This time Alex nicked the front seat and Li and Amber climbed in the back, Where to?"

Alex gave the name of their hotel, and the taxi man nodded and pulled out quickly. "It was really sensible of you guys to get a taxi at this time of night. , and r -" The taxi driver remarked.

"We don't wanna know." Amber shivered.

"Well, I was just warning you. Keep off these streets when its dark. You never know what's out there.

By the time they pulled up in front of the hotel, it was raining hard. Li ran out quickly to the front door, and Alex got out with his arms above his head and opened Amber's door.

"Come on!" He yelled to be heard through the pounding of the rain on the metal roof of the taxi. Amber looked up at him, with an almost scared look on her face.

"Can't we get any closer? I'm gonna get wet from this distance." Alex took a deep breath and tried to ignore the fact that with every second Amber stayed in the car he got a bit more wet himself.

"OK, then. I'm going in." He said. Leaving the door open, he ran back inside to join Li in the warmth of the lounge. Amber sighed.

"You better get out, love. I'm not waiting all day." The taxi man leaned around to face Amber. She took off her jacket and, holding it above her head, ran to Li and Alex.

* * *

By the time Hex finished visiting his mum, it was too late to find a taxi home. Besides, his call time was really expensive after ten o'clock. With his mum in the state she was, he didn't entirely trust her to drive safely. Remembering his house was only a mile from the hotel, he decided to run home. Checking his palmtop was well and truly wrapped up and protected from the rain, he ran down the front garden and began making the journey back to the hotel. 

He knew it wasn't safe to be out this late, but it was only a mile and he could probably get back within five or ten minutes. The streets were deserted now, except for the occasional man stumbling out of a pub too drunk to know what to do.

The rain was getting harder. Hex was finding it more and more difficult to see, and he suddenly slipped on a stone in the middle of the pavement. Crying out in pain and surprise, he hit the ground. Hex checked himself. He was fine, except his knees were cut and bleeding and his hands were grazed and sore from using them to sotp his fall. He quickly made sure his palmtop was OK, then searched round the ground for his mobile phone. Eventually he found it, but the shock from the fall had made it turn itself off, and the screen was cracked. Hex got up slowly and turned down the alleyway which led the shortcut through to the hotel.

As soon as he turned, he knew he should have waited and checked it was clear first. At the far end, silhouetted in the dim light from a nearby house, he could make out two giant men, trying hard not to be seen.

* * *

"What time is it?" said Amber impatiently. Li, Alex and herself were sitting in Li's room, waiting for Hex to return. For the tenth time, Alex checked his watch. 

"Half past ten."

"What time did Hex leave?"

"Five o'clock."

"Shouldn't he be back by now?" Alex frowned and looked at his watch.

"He said it was only about a mile away, didn't he? That means he could easily walk back, if transport was unavailable. I'll give him a call." Alex dialled Hex's number, but it was switched off. Alex frowned.

"It's turned off!" He said, staring at the other two, "But we always have our phones on, even if on silent."

"Maybe it's out of battery, or he accidentally dropped it." Amber suggested. Alex shook his head.

"Hex wouldn't let something like that happen. Not if I know him.

* * *

Paulo smiled at the nurse who came in for a check up. She was a lot nicer than the older woman. She was attractive, and maybe only a couple years older than Paulo himself. She smiled back at him, showing off her perfect teeth. Paulo had always thought English girls sometimes looked funny, but this one completely disproved his theory. In fact, most of the girls he'd seen since they arrived in London had proved him wrong. 

"And how are you feeling, Paulo?" She said, as she checkd his pulse.

"Fine, thanks. And yourself?"

"Lovely morning." The nurse replied. Paulo smiled again, one of his most winning. The nurse smiled again, this time slightly more hesitantly, and left the room. Paulo sighed with glee and sat back happily on his pillow. This is the life, he thought to himself. Suddenly his bedside phone ringing pulled him out of his dreamy state and he hastily hurried to answer it.

"Paulo?" Came the familiar voice of Alex, "Hex isn't with you, is he?" Paulo frowned.

"No. Why?" He said, twirling the springy cord around his fingers.

"He's not back yet, and he's been gone nearly six hours. We were just wondering if he dropped by to see you."

"Have you tried calling his home?"

"Nah, we were going to wait and see if he was with you first. I'll do that now, though."

"OK. Let me know." Paulo sighed again and hung up, but this time it wasn't quite of bliss.

* * *

Amber and Li waited anxiously for Alex's response. When he shook his head at them hopelessly, they knew immediately what the answer was. 

"He could still be at home, remember." Alex said, trying to reassure the two girls. He found Hex's home number in his phonebook and called it. Amber knew he was trying to be hopeful, but she couldn't help remembering what the taxi driver had said earlier..._"A lot of young people your age don't bother, and then they're the ones who become victims of crime. Like mugging, kidnapping, drugs..." _

Surely Hex would know better than to wander the streets at night? He had been living here all his life, and he was usually the one who knew most about stuff like this. Amber bit her lower lip and tried to push her thoughts to the back of her mind.

After a few seconds, Hex's mum picked up the phone. Amber listened to Alex's answers, and it was obvious what was going on.

"Hello? Can I speak to Hex please? OK, no worries. Thanks, bye." Alex sighed and hung up. "I didn't want to worry her by telling her that we don't know where he is. I guess she's got enough on her mind." Amber nodded.

"Where the hell is he, then? Try calling again."

* * *

Hex quickly ducked behind a green bin to watch the two men. He knew that if they saw him, they'd probably try to get rid of him. He strained to hear the conversation over the sound of the rain, and caught a glimpse of their dark forms. 

"...got to move. I'm pretty sure they knew."

"How do you know?"

"They asked for you! They gave me your name and said you were a friend of theirs. Somehow they know you're staying here."

The larger man swore fiercely. Hex bit his lip. That man must be Brody, and the other must be the hotel manager. He glared at Brody's back. It was a foolish schoolboy gesture, but it was the only way he could express his anger at the man who took his younger brother in the current situation. If things were different, he thought, I'd go out there and beat him up myself. And I'd have Paulo behind me, too. Hex grinned in spite of himself.

"We'll have to move them both. The kid and the man with the money. Once we're somewhere else we can carry on." Hex had heard enough. Now they knew for sure that Ben and Jack were definately together, and it assured him to know that Ben wasn't alone. He realised that it might be a good idea to follow Brody back to wherever he was keeping Ben and Jack, but he couldn't do it on his own. No matter how he felt about it, he knew it was dangerous and foolish to do something like that.

Silently he crept up to a nearby doorway to shelter from the rain and got out his phone. After a few valuable seconds, he managed to switch it back on and quickly dialled Amber's number.

* * *

Amber jumped when her phone vibrated in her back pocket. Hope suddenly filled her, and she grabbed it and answered it immediately. 

"Amber?" Came Hex's voice. Amber sighed with relief and signalled to Alex and Li that he was OK.

"Yeah, that's me. Where the hell are you?"

Hex's voice was hushed. Quickly he related to her his current situation and Amber's eyes grew wider with every sentence he said. "OK, we'll be right over - " Hex suddenly swore, cutting her off.

"They're coming. Gotta go." He whispered, and hung up.

* * *

Hex darted round another corner to watch the men go. Tempting as it was, he knew it was too dangerous to follow them. Even so, he watched them go in a general direction before coming out of his hiding place and heading back to Alex, Amber and Li. 

They were all sat up waiting for him when he returned. He gave them a grim smile before perching himself on Li's windowsill.

"They're definately both together, Jack and Ben. They mentioned it. They also mentioned moving someplace else." He said, picking at a stray bit of paint on the wall.

"Moving again? That's not so good," Amber remarked. Hex nodded grimly. Alex grinned cheesily.

"Maybe it's in Northumberland, or Argentina. Or maybe even China." He said. Amber and Li laughed out loud and Hex shook his head.

"Thank God," he said, "I hope it's miles away." Amber laughed again.

"What did take you so long anyway?" She said. Hex shrugged.

"Lost track of the time," he replied, telling the absolute truth.

"Anyway... more to the point... we should act fast if they're going to move soon. And especially as we don't know where they're going to go. But I'm just sooo tired..." Li yawned, cutting off the rest of her sentence.

"You're right," Alex said, "We should all get some sleep. Tomorrow - " he said, aiming a glance at Hex - "we can go to the hotel we found and hopefully follow them somewhere." Hex nodded, and sloped of to bed. A couple seconds later he was followed by Amber and Alex.

* * *

Paulo had a restless night. His head was hurting like hell and he just wanted to get out, to be with the others again. Sure, he thought, the nurses were nice enough. He grinned to himself when he remembered the young one who'd come in earlier. But none of them were as nice as Li. Or even Amber. He longed to be back with his friends again./ 

Almost on cue, the nurse entered again. Paulo quickly shut his eyes and pretended to be asleep. He listened as she busied herself about his bed, making sure everything was OK.

Then she left, and Paulo relaxed. He wondered if Hex was back yet. He decided to call Alex and find out. Using his bedside phone, he called the hotel, not even caring what time it was./He was so bored, he didn't have anything else to do. And besides, Alex had said he'd let him know if Hex returned, and if Hex hadn't returned yet then Alex would still be up now. Probably.

After a minute arguing mildly with the hotel manager, he was put through to Alex. Alex didn't sound happy. After a few minutes, Alex explained that yes, Hex had returned, and yes, he was sorry he didn't call earlier but he'd forgotten. Satisfied, Paulo leaned back on his pillow and looked at the clock. It was 3:15am. He grinned contentedly and sighed. Maybe he should try and sleep now. If he got out of hospital tomorrow, they'd be having a big day.

* * *

Alex's alarm clock rang at 6:30 the next morning. He knew it was early, and he knew for sure that Amber wouldn't be happy, but they had a long day ahead of them. If they wanted to get to Jack and Ben before they moved on, they would have to act fast. 

Half an hour later he met the other three in the downstaits cafe for breakfast. Amber was scowling and moaning continuously about having to get up so early, while Li smiled secretly to herself and Hex sat, looking bored and restless.

"Oh my gosh, you guys. So I was asleep having this great dream, and then Li comes bounding in singing 'Rise and shine...' even though its raining, and suddenly I have to be down here! I didn't even get a chance to shower." Li laughed.

"Get used to it, Amber. I was born in London, you know." She grinned. Before she was born, Li's parents had been zoologists travelling the world, and they just happened to be in London when Li was born. Once she'd grown up a bit, they continued their work.

"What?" Hex stared.

"Yeah. I was born here but it was before all the big stuff came around, like the London Eye and stuff. But we moved before I was four. I can't really remember it. Although - can we go to Harrods sometime? I have a few vague memories of that place."

Hex shrugged. "When's Paulo allowed out?"

"We can go see him on the way to Jack and Ben's place. If he's allowed out then, we'll take him." Alex said, setting his glass of orange juice down on the table.

"Jolly good," said Li, clapping her hands together and standing up."Shall we be off, then, fellows?"

"Can't I just go and do my hair properly? I won't be a minute." Amber whined, and dashed up to her room before the others had a chance to protest.

"Meet you outside!" Alex called. The other three made their way to the payphone just outside the front door and Hex called a taxi. Ten minutes later they were joined by Amber, and five minutes after that a black taxi pulled up beside them.

"Hop in," called the driver. Hex could have sworn he recognised his voice from somewhere, but he was too tired to place it. He climbed in the back between Amber and Alex while Li grabbed the front seat.

"Where are you guys off to?" asked the man. Hex noticed he had an American accent, but so? A lot of taxi drivers were from abroad, as it was easy work to get.

Alex gave the name of the hospital.

The taxi man nodded. Hex glanced at the man's reflection in the mirror. He was wearing dark sunglasses. Because he was in the middle seat, it looked as though the man was looking straight at him when he looked in the mirror. Hex narrowed his eyes and tried to place where he recognised the man from. He had short blond hair and a wide set jaw, and his voice was strangely familiar. But Hex still couldn't place him.

They turned a violent right and Amber was thrown up against Hex.

"Sorry," she muttered, picking herself up and sitting upright. Hex coughed and rubbed his shoulder.

Li also thought she recognised him, and she discreetly studied his profile when he wasn't looking. If only they knew where he was from, she thought.

* * *

"Morning, Paulo!" called his nurse cheerfully when she came in the next morning. Paulo replied as she walked over to the window. She smiled and spread them apart to reveal a beautiful view... rain upon rain upon rain. Paulo shook himself mentally and reminded himself not to let his imagination get carried away with him. 

"You're allowed home today, if you want. Just take it easy, OK? And I might not see you before you leave, so if not..."

"Really?" Paulo was shocked. The nurse nodded. He smiled. He'd never learnt her name. "OK. Thanks for everything." He said, and gave his most winning smile again. The nurse smiled again/

"It was a pleasure." She said, and turned and walked out the door. Paulo wondered when the others would come.

* * *

The other four members left the taxi man waiting outside and located Paulo's room. Paulo was up and dressed, waiting for their arrival. Li gave a whoop of delight and ran up to Paulo, throwing her arms around his neck. Alex grinned. 

"You feeling OK?" He said, glad to see how well Paulo was looking, once Li had released her grip.

Paulo smiled. "Yup. Never been better." After greeting Hex and Amber, he followed the others to the parking lot, where the taxi was quickly turning around. Hex took this opportunity to talk to the others about his suspicion.

"Not sure if this was just me," he said, "but did any of you recognise the driver?"

"Yes," Li said immediately, "I think we should be careful with what we say around him." Hex nodded, and Amber and Alex agreed along with Paulo.

When the taxi man returned, they all jumped in.

"Where to now?" He said, looking at Alex in the passenger seat. Alex squinted, trying to catch a glimpse of the man's eyes behing the dark glasses. He then gave the name of the suspected hotel, and the man grinned widely. He flicked the childlock switch. Slowly he removed his glasses and looked at each of his five passengers in turn.

"Sure thing," he drawled, "I'll take you there whether you like it or not!"

It hit all five of them at the same time.

The man opened the glove compartment and pulled out a gun. "And don't you go trying anything stupid, OK?" He pointed the gun at Alex, "Or it's goodbye to young blondie here."

It was the same taxi driver who had driven them to 31 Kindle Road, all that time ago.

* * *

**Oh I'm so eevil... it's been so exciting with all these new fics coming up that I decided I had some competition! Please review. Reviews are greatly appreciated. Review me and I'll review you?**

**Spinkle22 :P**


	12. Karen

**Chapter 12 now up! Sorry it took so long... I've been on holiday! This story's coming to an end, now, folks. Only a few more chapters to go! So get your reviews in while you can!**

* * *

The taxi driver drove off quickly while all the time keeping his gun aimed at the side of Alex's head. He's a pro, thought Hex, watching how straight he drove using only one hand, and how steady he held the gun with the other. Paulo cursed quietly and Hex mentally kicked himself for not being more cautious. How the hell would they be able to help Ben and Jack when they were in captive themselves? 

But then, Hex thought, they might be led to them anyway, and then they might even be able to escape with them. It was a far hope, but it was the only one they had. He glanced over at Amber. He knew it was time for her to take her insulin, but he didn't want to say anything in case the taxi driver overheard and used it against her. He caught her eye and raised his eyebrow. Amber understood and nodded ever so slightly, lifting the edge of her t shirt to show Hex that she was doing it in private. Hex nodded.

No one said anything for the remainder of the journey. No one had anything to say.Each person was locked in their own thoughts, wondering how, and if they would ever escape. Paulo considered taking the man by surprise, but any small movement on the trigger, and that would be the end of Alex. He watched the taxi driver's face in the mirror.

He was concentrating on the road, occasionally glancing in the mirror to see what the other four were doing. He had taken his sunglasses off and Paulo could now see his eyes clearly. They were hard eyes, cold eyes. Eyes which never saw the light of day. Eyes which never saw anything else in a person other than the shell. Paulo despised him for it. For taking an innocent kid no older than fourteen through something someone he didn't even know had done. He just prayed that Ben and Jack would get out OK. Along with the rest of Alpha Force.

* * *

Alex recognized the hotel as soon as they pulled up in front of. It was the one that they'd visited earlier and spoken to the suspicious receptionist. He saw the red hatchback parked neatly outside, but the paint itself was peeling and there were various dents in its surface. He wondered how many other cars this one had destroyed. 

The driver got out and locked the door behind him. As he headed towards the hotel, Amber sniffed.

"Oh my _gosh_, how could we have been so stupid? I knew I recognized him from somewhere. Now how the hell are we going to help Ben and Jack?" Li laid a hand on Amber's arm.

"Hey, it's OK," she said, trying in a desperate attempt to reassure her, "we'll manage to get out. We always do. And we might even meet Ben and Jack while we're here." Amber nodded. She was about to reply when she saw the taxi driver coming down the path back to the taxi, followed by another two men. One of them was heavily built with a lot of piercings, and the other was smaller but sharper.

When they approached the taxi, they thrust the door open and pulled all five members of Alpha Force out, while putting their hands in cuffs.

"You five ain't goin' nowhere." The big man muttered, lifting his coat a tiny bit to reveal the gun in the inside pocket. He was holding Paulo, the taxi man was holding Hex and Amber while the smaller man was holding Li and Alex. They were led inside, past the receptionist who was grinning at them, and upstairs into a double room. They were left there while the men left, locking the door behind them.

Hex swore and kicked the bed post. "What are we going to do?"

"Let's check this room for any escapes. You never know." Paulo said, and walked over to the tiny window. If they could open it then Li would be able to fit, and possibly Amber, but on closer examination Paulo realized that it wasn't an openable window. It was just a pane of glass; double glazed glass. He paced the floor, looking at the ceiling for any escape routes like loose tiles or trapdoors, but there were none. Finally he walked around the room, tapping each wall, but each one was solid. The others watched in silence.

Paulo shook his head. "Nothing."

"I need the loo," Li whined.

"We could try jumping them when they come back," Amber suggested hopelessly, but Alex shook his head.

"Too risky. Way too risky. You saw his gun, and I bet they've all got knives as well."

"But we outnumber them." Li pointed out, "And I'm a martial arts expert, remember?"

"We don't know how many of them there are." This time it was Hex, "We know the receptionists in on it too. And I'll bet the cleaners and cooks and stuff are too. You can't hide a hostage in a hotel without them knowing."

"I don't think this place does have cleaners," said Amber, looking around the room in disgust.

"If we could find a heavy or sharp object, we could smash the window." Paulo said, then suddenly sat up as an idea came to him. "Alex! Your - " But Alex cut him off, shaking his head.

"My knife? They took it off me when we got out of the car." They all slumped, out of ideas. The room was bare, except for two single beds and a weak chair. The legs would probably snap off if they tried to use that to break the window.

"I guess we should all get some sleep, then." Amber said, stifling a yawn. "I'm getting one of the beds." Before anyone could protest, she jumped into the nearest bed and pulled the blanket over her head. Li grinned at the three boys hopefully.

"Go on then," sighed Alex, "We'll sleep on the floor."

"Thanks!" Li cried, and bounded over to the other bed. Gradually they dropped off to sleep, though it was a restless and fitful night.

* * *

They were all awoken by a key turning in the lock. Amber and Li sat up hastily in bed. The smaller man stood in the doorway, glaring at them all. Behind him stood a woman, who they all recognized instantly. 

"You! You're the one from the cafe!" Amber cried. The woman looked uncomfortable, but then shrugged her shoulders and smirked. Hex had the feeling she didn't like being in on all this.

"Toilet break," the man announced. "Boys, you're coming with me. You two -" he indicated Li and Amber, "- follow her." He nodded towards the woman.

After Alex, Paulo and Hex left, Amber and Li were escorted to the toilet by the woman. Amber stared at her back while she led them down the corridor.. Back in Boston, where the woman had lost her son, she had seemed so genuinely upset. Either that, or she was a very good actress. She looked out of place here. Or maybe that was because she was the only female, Amber thought.

"Was it you who turned in Hex's brother?" Amber said before she could stop herself. The woman stopped.

"I'm sorry," she said coldly, "I had to."

"Why?"

"Shut up and keep going."

"Why did you have to turn in an innocent kid like that?"

"Amber - " Li warned, but Amber silenced her as the woman was about to answer.

"I have my reasons." Amber sighed and continued walking. Obviously this woman wasn't very secure, and if only Amber could get her to spill just one tiny but of information -

"What's your name?" Amber asked, trying to sound friendly. The woman hesitated.

"Karen." She replied eventually.

"You got any family?"

"Husband and two kids."

"Do they know about any of this?" The woman stopped and turned to face Amber. For a moment her lower lip wobbled and Amber thought she was going to cry. But then a hardened look came over her face and she frowned.

"Shut up! I shouldn't be talking to you about this. It's got nothing to do with you. And if Brody knew - " Karen stopped and continued walking down the corridor. Amber exchanged a glance with Li and they followed her down the corridor again.

* * *

"The mens are down this way." The smaller man was quite a talkative person. "I'm Ian, by the way. I just want you to know, lads, that I don't agree with anything that Brody is doing. I have to do it, though."

"Why do you have to do it? Is he threatening you?" Paulo asked.

"Yes. He says he'll kill my wife if I do anything wrong. And he'll pay me greatly if I do it right. That might seem selfish, but my family really need the money right now. The house needs heating, and one of my kids has got pneumonia."

"Gosh, really?" said Alex.

"Why don't you escape? Take your family somewhere new." Hex suggested. Ian shrugged.

"He will find us. He always finds us." Ian picked up his pace. Behind him, Alex, Paulo and Hex shared a confused glance. What was this man's game?

* * *

Once they were all back in the room, the large man joined Karen and Ian. He locked the door behind him and stared at Alpha Force.

"Go get five chairs and tie them to them." He said. Whether he was talking to Ian or Karen, it didn't matter. They both went. Before long, they both returned and all of Alpha Force were bound firmly and unable to move.

"I'm Brody, by the way," said the big man, stretching himself out and sitting down on the bed Amber had slept on. Amber grimaced, wondering if he ever did that before they arrived. "Guntley informs me that two of you have visited this hotel before, and Karen informs me that less than a week ago you were in Boston. Am I correct?"

"Yes," Amber said, "And who's Guntley?"

"He's the man pretending to be a receptionist. What made you come to England so suddenly?"

"Someone we know went missing here."

"Oh, really?" Suddenly Amber snapped. She despised the way Brody was dragging it all out, patronizing them, enjoying himself at their suffering.

"What the hell is _wrong_ with you? You're sick! All of you! Who takes innocent kids, just because their brother's friend's friend has a lot of money?" Amber shouted.

"Shut her up. Kill her, I don't care how." Brody said lazily, examining his fingernails, but even Ian hesitated.

"Brody, but surely - "

"I said, shut her up."

But Amber wasn't finished. "You think that just because you can, you can torment people into getting their money? Is that all you care about? You don't care if a few lives get destroyed along the way? You make me sick!" Karen looked at Amber desperately and shook her head. They all knew she didn't want any violence. But Amber continued. "I hope you die a slow, painful death. I hope you rot in hell. I hope - " Amber's ranting suddenly died in her throat as Brody raised a gun to her forehead, and saw the unmoved look on his face.

He pulled the trigger.

Amber shut her eyes tight, waiting for the bullet, but it never came. Instead, she heard Li scream and all three boys cry out - in pain or surprise, she couldn't tell. Amber opened her eyes and froze when she saw the still form of Karen lying at her feet, a rapidly growing pool of blood spreading out from her chest. She had taken the bullet for Amber, for her family. Her eyes were wide open, her face locked in an eternal expression of fear and distress. Glaring at Amber with cold, dead accusations.

* * *

**Reviews, reviews, reviews... let me know what you think :D**


	13. The Fire

**This is the second to last (I think the proper word is penultimate) chapter!! Hope you enjoy :P**

* * *

"Amber, it wasn't your fault," Li said, sometime later. The men had left, dragging Karen behind them, but Brody had left them tied to the chairs. Amber stared at the bloodstain on the carpet at her feet. 

"Yes it was," she said, "I shouldn't have kept on going. I should have shut up, like he said."

Hex suddenly snapped. "For heaven's sake, Amber, stop blaming yourself. We're not going to get anywhere if we all do that." He glared at Amber, who glared right back.

"No, well none of you have anything to feel guilty about, have you?" She snarled.

"You're not helping – "

Alex chose this moment to interrupt. Arguing wouldn't get them anywhere. "You're not helping either, Hex. Calm down, all of you. We need to think things through." Amber and Hex retreated, neither of them looking each other in the eye.

"Do you think Ben and Jack are here?" Li suggested, looking hopefully at Paulo. Paulo shrugged.

"Who knows? They could be miles away. However, they could also be in the room right next to us. But neither of us know." Li sighed, frustrated. To think that Ben and Jack could literally be metres away from them now but being unable to do anything about it was exasperating and infuriating.

"Gosh! We've got to get out, guys. I'm beginning to need the loo again."

"What? Again? We only went an hour ago!" Paulo commented.

"Karen didn't give us much time in there, you know. And girls - " Li trailed off when she saw Amber shift uncomfortably in her seat. She regretted bringing Karen's name up again. She coughed and looked for a change of subject. Alex was fidgeting in his seat with a look of concentration on his face. "What are you doing?" She inquired. Alex looked at her and grinned, but he didn't stop moving.

"My dad told me how to do this once. When you're arms are tied behind your back in a particular kind of knot, you can slip it off. It's harder with a chair in the way, though."

"Really? How long does it take?" Asked Paulo, genuinely intrigued.

"Not long. Usually about five minutes, but with a chair about fifteen. That's what dad said, anyway. But he's more experienced at this kind of stuff."

Hex suddenly sniffed. "Can you smell smoke?"

"Er… vaguely." Amber said, frowning in concentration.

"I was about to say that myself," Li said, and bit her lip, "Gosh, they haven't started a fire or something, have they?"

"Don't worry too soon. Someone could be smoking, or something." Alex muttered, still trying to free his hands. "I'm getting there…"

"That's not cigarette smoke." Hex said. He knew enough about that – his dad smoked continuously and there were hundreds of smokers down the common London streets. Amber looked at him.

"How do you know?"

"It's just not. Trust me."

* * *

Ben woke up suddenly. He had splitting headache and he was finding it hard to breathe. He looked up and saw Jack in the chair opposite him, staring at him intently. 

"What?" Ben said, but immediately regretted it. His throat was sore and he was incredibly thirsty. Jack shook his head.

"They took it all. All of it."

"All of what?"

"My money. They came in here a while ago while you were asleep, and showed it all to me. All million dollars of it." Ben's eyes widened.

"I'm sorry," he said. Jack smiled sadly.

"It's OK. Once we're out of here, we'll get it all back. And I'll give you some of it, too. We've been through this together."

Ben smiled. "It's OK. We don't really need it. Although Hex's dad might." Jack coughed.

"That is – if we do get out."

"Course we will. Hex knows we're missing, and so do loads of other people. They'll find us." Ben suddenly coughed again and realized his vision was getting hazy. He felt a little bit dizzy. That didn't come from electric shocks, did it?

"It's the smoke," Jack said, "I think they've set the hotel on fire. They don't need us anymore."

* * *

Li suddenly erupted in a fit of violent coughs. Was it her imagination or was the room foggier? Amber looked desperately at Alex. 

"Are you nearly done? I need to take my insulin."

"What?" Alex looked up, shocked.

"I need to take my insulin," Amber said slowly, "I have diabetes, remember?" Alex cursed and started to work harder. He could feel the rope loosening and he could nearly slip his hand out. But not quite.

"We've got to hurry up. This place will be in flames in a bit if we're not quick." Hex said this while staring at Amber in concern. That's not the only reason he wants Alex to get out, Li thought. He was worried about Amber, too.

"I'm getting there!" Alex called. He glanced at Amber. Whether the smoke was getting thicker or her face was getting grayer, he could not tell. It just spurred him on.

Suddenly, Alex's right hand slid through the loop. "Yes!" He called, and used his right hand to untie his left, and then moved onto his feet.

"Hurry up," Amber choked. Alex grasped the rope and tried to get his fingers in between the gap, but it was too tight. He cursed and pulled harder, and eventually the rope slackened. Not by much, but it was enough for him to get his fingers in and pull harder.

He was free. He stood up and ran over to Amber. He began to untie her ropes, but Hex stopped him.

"No, wait. Why don't you do the insulin first, then untie her?" He said. Amber's head was lolling onto her chest. Alex looked up.

"Me? I don't know how to do stuff like that." The thought of injecting someone else terrified Alex. What if he got the wrong place, or pushed too hard? He snapped out of it as he realized Paulo was talking. Suddenly he realized he could hardly see the big Argentinean's figure through the smoke.

"…not that hard, really. Go on, quickly." Alex nodded and found Amber's insulin pouch at her hip. He got out the pen and pressed it to Amber's arm, shut his eyes and pressed. "Well done! That's it." Paulo's voice cut through the panic. Alex opened his eyes and put the needle back in Amber's pouch. Then he got to work untying the rest of the ropes.

* * *

Jack was struggling to breathe. He could hear Ben coughing from across the room but he couldn't see him. He could barely see his outline. He knew they had to get out. Right at that moment, he didn't care anything about the money. He just wanted to get Ben and himself out safely. 

He let out a roar and pulled against the ropes with all his might. He'd read about people finding hidden strengths they never knew they had, like women pulling cars off their children when they needed the strength most. He pulled until the ropes cut into his skin, but the smoke got caught in his throat and he was reduced to coughing once more.

"Ben, to hell with it. I can't get out."

Ben tried to respond, but his mouth was thick with smoke. The fire must be nearby. He didn't want to die. He was only fourteen, and he had his GCSEs in a year or two. After that he'd go on to college, like Hex was next year, and then university. He wanted to marry, to have a family of his own who he could care for and earn money. Right now that dream seemed worlds away.

* * *

"Yes!" Paulo let out a whoop of delight as the last person was finally freed. The five members of Alpha Force stood up and looked at one another for a brief moment of relief, before Paulo hurled himself at the door to break it down. It didn't budge. 

"It's a strong door for a place like this," he grunted, "Hex, come here!" He yelled.

"Here, let me." Li pushed past Paulo and braced herself. Then she aimed a flying kick at the door and it flew off its hinges and into the smoky corridor beyond. Smoke filled the room quickly, black smoke. Like the angel of death, Amber thought.

Paulo got down on the ground and pulled his shirt up over his mouth. He pulled on Li's ankle and indicated for her to do the same. They all got down and followed Paulo outside into the passageway.

Hex tried to remain calm, but inside his senses were screaming out against the situation. The smoke was everywhere, pressing against him and smothering him. He was suddenly reminded of Suzanne, and an image of a pale, blood-splattered and pained face staring at him with wide, lifeless eyes came before his eyes and he pushed the memory to the back of his mind. He didn't want to think about that anymore, not at a time like this.

Visibility here was almost zero. Amber could just make out Li's feet, crawling in front of her. She was afraid of losing her, so she grabbed her ankle and hoped Li wouldn't mind. She suddenly felt a tug on her own ankle, and she looked behind irritably to see Hex's pale face through the smoke.

"What about – " he yelled, but the rest was cut off as a distant crash could be heard in the hotel. Amber guessed what he was going to say and shook her head.

"It's too dangerous!" she yelled back, "Someone will have called a fire engine. They'll come in and get them out, if they're in here!" Hex bit his lip, but he knew he had no choice but to accept it. He just prayed that if Ben was in here, he would be OK. Hex would never forgive himself if anything ever happened.

* * *

Jack cried out in surprise. He had found a sharp splinter on his chair and had been rubbing his ropes against it for the last five minutes, but he hadn't actually expected it to work. Now he stared at the two ends of frayed rope in his hands, his free hands, and nearly cried. Quickly he untied his feet and suddenly the dream of being a millionaire once again didn't seem so far. He ran over to Ben, who appeared to be hyperventilating. 

"Hey Ben, listen to me," he yelled, trying to catch Ben's attention, "I haven't got time to free you. I'll get out, but I promise you – I give you my word – that someone will come back for you. Do you understand?" A vague nod of Ben's head was the only answer Jack was going to get. He still felt guilty, though, "If I stay here, we might both die, and then none of us will have any chance." Ben didn't respond.

Jack bit his lip and gave Ben's shoulder a quick squeeze, hoping it had meant something. Then he pushed the door open and fled down the smoky staircase to the fresh air outside.

Surely someone must have noticed the fire and called help? Jack sure hoped, for Ben's sake, that someone had.

* * *

Paulo burst out of the burning hotel and landed in a heap on the floor. Li landed straight on top of him and Alex, Hex and Amber landed in another heap next to them. Paulo grinned. 

"We made it!" He said, and started laughing. Li caught on and soon she was laughing too, then Alex, Amber and Hex joined in. For a few precious seconds all their worries were forgotten. Once again, they'd managed to find their way out in one piece… but it didn't last long.

"Amber?" An incredulous, familiar American voice. Amber looked up to see the man she'd know for nearly all her life, the man who they'd originally come to London to find.

"Jack!" She cried, and suddenly she was on her feet and hugging Jack tightly round the neck. He smiled and gently disentangled himself from Amber's arms.

"I was just about to get help," he panted, "I lost my phone. I can't believe no one called a fire engine. There's a phone booth – "

"Wait," called Hex, "Where's…?" Jack looked at Hex.

"He's in there still. I promised him I'd send someone back as soon as I could. Which is why – " Jack ran off towards the phone booth.

Hex stared after him, then looked at the hotel. There were orange flames leaping from all the downstairs windows and most of the upstairs one. He didn't want to go back in there, back into the depths of his fear, but he felt he had no choice. He shakily stood up and started going back into the fire, but Paulo grabbed his ankle, causing him to trip up on the path. Hex swore and turned on Paulo.

"Let go!" He said, and tried to pull away, but Paulo held on.

"Hex, you can't go back in there. It's way too stupid. You'll get killed - " Hex glanced quickly back at the hotel, and kicked Paulo's hand with his free foot and Paulo let go. He got up again and ran back towards the door, which had now fallen off its hinges. Hex had made his decision.

* * *

"_Dios_," Paulo cursed, watching Hex's silhouette disappear inside the smoke. "Someone should go with him." Alex shook his head. 

"He'll be fine." He didn't look as sure as he sounded.

"Oh my gosh," Amber whispered, staring up at the flaming building. The fire brigade had to be here soon. They had to be.

"He'll be OK, Amber." Li repeated. Amber's eyes were wide with fear, and Li started to think that maybe Amber was in shock. If Hex did get out safely with Ben, it would be amazing. If he didn't – Li didn't think about that.

Amber screamed as suddenly the whole of the left hand side of the hotel collapsed, sending broken wood and debris everywhere. She scrambled to her feet, pulling Li with her, and got out of the way just in time as a large concrete slab landed where they had been two seconds earlier. Paulo and Alex joined them a few seconds later.

"Are you OK?" Alex had to shout over the sound of the ruin hitting the floor. Li nodded for both of them.

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh," Amber kept repeating. Paulo grabbed her by the shoulders and stared her in the eye.

"Amber, calm down. Deep breaths." Amber stared into Paulo's eyes, concerned yet trustworthy, and mentally forced herself to do as he said.

* * *

Hex gasped and pulled himself away just in time as part of the floor fell in onto the bottom floor. He was worried about getting back. The staircase had collapsed when he was halfway up, and he'd just managed to grab hold of the ridge of the second floor and pull himself. The sharp edges had cut his hands but he barely noticed. 

Surprisingly, he wasn't as scared as the first time he'd been in here. Maybe it was the determination to find Ben.

He had to continuously dodge things falling from the ceiling. The fact that he couldn't see anything didn't help. There were twenty rooms upstairs for him to choose from. Most of the doors had been burnt down, so he could glance in each one quickly. So far the first three had been empty.

Hex suddenly yelled out in pain as his shirt caught fire. He bent down and rolled over, extinguishing the flames. He suddenly remembered running back to the truck to rescue Samir, and running back to the café with Alex to rescue the child who'd been lost there. He'd managed to get out OK both times, so why should this one be an exception?

As he ran past a door near the one he'd been held in with the others, he caught a glimpse of something inside. Ben.

Hex ran inside and discovered his little brother, unconscious, slumped on a chair. Hex swore repetitively, trying to undo the ropes behind the chair. Thankfully they'd been weakened by the smoke and heat, and Hex was able to pull them off pretty quick. He did the same with the ropes around Ben's ankles and then picked up his brother and ran.

He wasn't even thinking about what he was doing. All he knew was that he had to get out safely with Ben. He wasn't even sure if Ben was still alive. In a normal situation, he'd be able to tell.

Suddenly he reached the gap where the staircase used to be. He hesitated, wondering what to do. Then he put Ben down on the floor and jumped down onto the debris of the staircase. It was unstable, but it was the only option. Then he reached back up and grabbed Ben's limp form, and ran for the entrance.

As Hex neared the door, he could feel the cold night air blowing down the corridor. He wondered how long he'd been inside for. He reached the entrance and stopped, suddenly unsure of what to do. All the strength had gone out of him, but then Paulo suddenly appeared in front of him. Hex could only watch as Paulo took Ben from him and rushed him over to a clear spot.

Then Amber's arms were around his neck, pulling him further to safety, further away from the house which had nearly killed his little brother. Or maybe it already had.

Hex barely registered the smiling faces of Alex and Li as Amber led them over to them beneath a tree. He realized how dark it was. And as he turned back to the hotel, the last thing he saw was the whole building collapse in a mess of rubble, smoke and noise, before he collapsed on the ground and finally breathed in fresh, fresh air.

* * *

Paulo bit his lip and carried on performing artificial respiration on Ben. He wouldn't let him go. He couldn't. Not after everything Hex, everything they'd all been through. There didn't seem to be any movement in Ben at all. His chest rose slightly but that was the only sign of life in his only body. 

"No," Paulo muttered, "Please, not now. Not now. Come on, Ben!" It was strange, Paulo thought. He'd never met this kid in his life before but he wanted so much for him to live.

Then Ben coughed. Paulo stopped suddenly and sat back to give Ben some air. Ben leaned over to the side and coughed some more, then opened his eyes. They fell on Paulo, who grinned. He had the same eyes as Hex.

"Hello," he said, trying his best not to scare him. Ben smiled slightly then looked around.

"Did Hex come?" He said.

"Yup, he did. He saved your life." Paulo was suddenly aware of someone behind him.

"Hey, little brother," Hex stepped forward and ruffled Ben's hair, grinning from ear to ear.

"Hex!" Ben cried and threw his arms around Hex's middle from where he was sitting down. Hex laughed out loud and hugged him back. He looked at Paulo over Ben's head and mouthed 'Thank you!' Paulo smiled. He didn't need any thanks. The joy in their faces was enough. That was what Alpha Force was for, after all.

Suddenly a siren sounded and blue flashing lights lit up the whole area, and a man in a yellow fire-fighting suit ran up to where Amber, Alex and Hex were sat.

"Is everyone OK?" he asked. Amber looked over to where Hex and Ben were, and smiled.

"Yup, everyone's fine," she said, "But thanks anyway."

* * *

**Don't go away yet! It's not quite finished... one more chapter to go!! Reviews are nice :D**


	14. Easter

**Firstly, I want to thank Elledreamer and SuperTD for reviewing every single chapter! It's guys like you that helped me keep going. Also want to thank emmalea21 for all your reviews... and My-name-is-foxglove for that one amazing review-and-a-half! Also thanks to DragonTyc, be-nice-to-nerds, chop4tess, black oblivion, Torikins and cattycat92.**

**I've really enjoyed writing this, by the way, and it's gonna be weird thinking I don't have any more chapters to write! Who knows, I might write another. But I couldn't have done it with out you guys and your constant reviews. You guys are my writing fuel!! I****'m not sure if I'm gonna make another story, but if I do it might be a while. But while this one lasts... enjoy the last chapter!**

* * *

Nothing had changed. It seemed to suggest to Amber that it had all been a dream. Nothing happened. The others are still in their own rooms sleeping, and no one ever went missing. 

But Amber knew it was true. She smiled to herself and sat up. It was a lovely morning, and she could even hear a bird singing outside. She grinned to herself. It was just like a fairy tale. She yawned and took her morning dose of insulin and went into her en-suite bathroom to get changed.

Easter. Alpha Force. They were like the same thing. A new start. Chicks hatching out of eggs, and Jesus rising from the dead all those years ago. Amber rising out of her old self all those months ago. A new person. Amber smiled again to herself – she just couldn't help it.

Once she was changed and ready, she moved over to the door. The whole house was silent, so she guessed everyone was still asleep. Lazy morons, she thought, and grinned in spite of herself.

Suddenly Amber tripped over something stood right outside her door. Gasping, she turned around and picked it up. Much to her mental protests, she couldn't help her mouth twisting into a delighted smile.

It was a yellow fluffy chicken with a label stuck to it's ear. She turned it over and read it. To Amber, from Hex. Amber nearly laughed out loud. It was so typical. Not even a 'Happy Easter.' He was probably hoping she never found it. Amber put the chicken down on her bed and padded softly down the thick-carpeted corridor, then banged on the next four doors along.

"Come on, guys. It's Easter. Time to get up!" Amber laughed when she heard the familiar morning moans coming from behind each door. She made her way downstairs while they got ready, where John was sitting reading a newspaper.

"Hey, Uncle," Amber said, smiling as she entered the room.

"Hey, Amber. How's things?" Amber stretched and sat down on a sofa.

"Great. Couldn't be better."

"Did you have a good – vacation – in London?" John asked. Amber saw him searching her for clues and remembered he didn't know the real reason they went there in the first place.

"Yeah, it was good. We found Jack there." John paused, then nodded slowly. He shook his head and suddenly frowned.

"By the way - I got a call from a very angry man yesterday. Demanded having a new car or something. He sounded English. So I kind of assumed it was something to do with you and gave him what he wanted. Should I have?" Amber breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, thanks, Uncle." She saw the questioning look on John's face, "And don't ask."

* * *

Paulo sat up. For a moment he didn't know where he was, but then he remembered the previous two days and everything that had happened. Alex had alerted the police while Paulo was trying to revive Hex's brother, and Brody had been caught fleeing from the scene a few miles away. He'd been arrested and charged for attempted murder and theft, amongst other things. Ian had also been arrested and punished, but not quite so severely as Brody. 

Karen's family had been informed of her death. The child stuck in the burning building at the start had been completely genuine, but back then she was just an ordinary mother. It turned out that Brody had persuaded her to help him with a large sum of money, which her family was desperately in need of. Her family had been told of her heroic death, and her funeral had been arranged.

Hex had taken Ben back to their mother, who'd been overjoyed to see them both standing at the door, and the next day they caught an early flight to Boston to finish off their Easter. Paulo smiled in satisfaction. They'd made it back in time for Easter Sunday, at least. Safe and sound.

Jack had recieved his money and moved off to another part of America with his wife and kids to start a new life there with them. The last thing they heard from him was a text to Amber's phone, 'Thanks for everything. I'm going away to start a new life.' Amber was sad he was leaving, but at the same time she was glad he could get another chance to start anew. Like she did.

Paulo could hear the others moving around downstairs. Looking at his clock, he saw it was 10 o'clock and decided it was time to get up. He quickly showered and dressed, before making his way down to the kitchen where the other four were waiting.

"Happy Easter, you lazy lump." Li smiled when the big Argentinean filled the doorway. He grinned sheepishly and sat down next to her at the table.

Then his eyes fell on to the tabletop itself. Five Easter eggs in their wrappers were placed in front of each chair. And Paulo drooled.

Amber laughed out loud. "Uncle treated us to a bit of Easter spirit. We were waiting until you got down to start."

"Which is quite early, considering it's Paulo we're talking about - " Alex said, looking at his watch and nodding as though he were impressed. Paulo grinned widely and turned his attention back to the Easter eggs.

"Happy Easter, guys." He said, and looked round at the four other smiling faces surrounding him.

"Happy Easter!"

* * *

A week and a half later, Alpha Force sat in the airport waiting for the announcements for their flights. Amber was with them to see them off. They were sat in a lazy circle of chairs, lounging around while they waited. 

"That has to be the most exciting Easter I've had in years," Amber groaned, rubbing her stomach, "And I've put on about four pounds."

"Yeah, I think we'll all have to go back to the weights when we get back." Alex commented. They all laughed.

Li's was the first flight to leave, half an hour later. Goodbyes were shared all round, and Li grinned and picked up her suitcase.

"I guess I'll be seeing you guys in six or so weeks then, yeah?" She said.

"Yup. We'll keep in touch via e-mail and work out a time and place." Amber replied.

"Would you like me to escort you to your transportation?" Paulo looked at the small Chinese girl and grinned. Li pulled a funny face.

"I can take care of myself, thanks, big guy." Li poked her tongue out, and with that, glanced at the others one more time and danced out of the waiting room and out of sight.

"Suddenly it's so much quieter." Hex muttered. Paulo laughed a deep, hearty laugh and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Trust you to say something like that, Hex. You know, your brother is a lot like you."

"Great," Hex didn't sound enthusiastic, "Appearance wise or otherwise?"

"Appearance. And maybe otherwise, but I didn't get to know him that well."

"Well that's definitely lightened up my day."

Ten minutes later Hex's and Alex's flight was called. They were both going on the same plane, then Hex was going to catch the train back to London. They stood up and turned at Amber and Paulo.

"See you, then." Alex smiled. Amber and Paulo waved back. Just as the two boys turned to go, Amber called out,

"Hey, Hex! Don't think you've gotten off that easily. You didn't even say goodbye." Hex looked vaguely embarrassed. He cast a quick glance around the waiting room and gave Amber a tiny wave. Amber laughed, jumped up from her seat and ran over to them both. She flung her arms around Hex's neck and whispered,

"Look after your brother, OK?" Hex nodded and gently eased himself away from Amber's arms. Amber suddenly blushed and realized she'd given Hex a hug in front of everyone. She saw the amused looks on Paulo and Alex's faces, so to cover it up, she went and hugged Alex as well.

"See you two boys later."

She turned back to Paulo and slapped him on the arm. That quickly wiped his expression off his face.

"Don't say anything." She said.

* * *

After Paulo had left, Amber stretched and went back outside to where John was waiting in the car. He'd said his goodbyes in the car park, leaving Amber to say goodbye inside the airport. 

"All set?" He asked, as Amber plugged in her seatbelt. She looked outside the window at the last plane of the evening rose into the air and back to Argentina. The sun was beginning to set itself and there were long shadows beginning to form over everything.

Another mission done and uncovered. It couldn't have gone any better.

"All set." She said.


End file.
